


I Was Blind Before I Saw the World Through Your Eyes

by longingparadise



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Arranged Marriage, Drama, F/M, FemNaru - Freeform, Female Naruto, Fluff, Gender or Sex Swap, Genderbending, Rated Explicit for later chapters, Romance, Slow Burn, and ninja action, not ooc, underage marriage: they're both 17
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-13
Updated: 2016-04-22
Packaged: 2018-05-20 00:52:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 84,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5986750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/longingparadise/pseuds/longingparadise
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shikamaru always knew that he would marry a girl from another village. When he is twelve, he finds out that her name is Naruto. When he is sixteen, Naruto comes to Konoha. ShikaFemNaru, ArrangedMarriage!AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> _'Living without you is like TV in black and white_   
>  _You turned me on, brought color into my life_   
>  _When I’m around you suddenly I realize ___  
>  _That I was blind before I saw the world through your eyes'_

**.**

For when Shikamaru would marry, he hoped that his wife would be perfectly average. Average looks, average intelligence, average personality. Anything else would simply be too troublesome to deal with.

Shikamaru always knew he would marry eventually. Not because he trusted in his charm or his looks and certainly not because he was a romantic at heart. The answer was a more logical, a more boring one. It was written with black ink on white paper.

Actually, he’d never seen it, but he knew that the Sandaime’s and his father’s signatures were written under the text that stated that he, Shikamaru Nara, would marry a certain girl. He was never told his fiancé’s name.

Shikamaru always knew it would happen since his parents had never kept it secret from him. In some ways, he thought, it was a much better option than suddenly being told by the time he was seventeen. If it had been that way, he probably would’ve had dreams and expectations for his future which would’ve been crushed by the sudden revelation that his life had been planned all along.  
This way however, Shikamaru always knew what to expect and accepted his future marriage like the fact that he was going to die. It was what it was and there was no way to stop what would happen from happening. Therefore, there was no use in spending energy brooding over it when he didn’t have the power to change the outcome anyway.

**.**

He was six when he was, as usual, lounging with Choji on the roof of the Akimichi estate; him watching the clouds, the other boy eating a bag of chips.

Shikamaru had always gotten along with Choji. They knew each other for as long as he could remember since their fathers were very close friends and visited each other frequently. Choji was uncomplicated, nice and, unlike many other kids their age, calm and not too troublesome.

From their current resting place they could spot two figures turning around the street corner. Even though they weren’t in close distance, it was easy to recognize them as Ino and her father Inoichi by their platinum blonde hair that was fairly rare around Konoha.

Shikamaru groaned. Inoichi probably had something to do and his wife was busy, as well, so he brought Ino to the Akimichis to be taken care of. It wasn’t unusual for their parents to entrust their children to each other.

“Great. Get ready for her to talk your ear off.” Another groan.

Choji grinned. Shikamaru knew that the boy didn’t mind Ino as much. He always believed her heart to be at the right place. It didn’t change the fact that she was annoying though.

As the two figures came closer, Ino’s nagging voice became gradually louder. She sounded like she was complaining about something, again. Knowing her, she was probably whining about having to spend time with them. After all, she didn’t like their company any more than Shikamaru liked hers. They simply weren’t compatible, at all.

He closed his eyes, enjoying the vanishing silence while it lasted.

“Ugh, I can’t believe I have to spend my time with you guys, again. Rumor’s saying Sasuke will be at the playground, but here I am, stuck with you two.”

Another point on his wish list for his future wife: Please do not have an obnoxiously high voice.

He’d somehow started to keep track of things like that. Whenever he’d experience annoying behavior, he couldn’t help but think about his future wife possibly having the same traits.  
Still, he didn’t actually want to set any expectations for his fiancé; he didn’t want to be disappointed when she’d turn out to be anything but what he could tolerate.  
And him tolerating her was the best case scenario. He didn’t want to think about the more likely one.

“Isn’t Sasuke going to start Academy this year, too?” Choji asked and scrunched his empty bag of chips into a ball.

Great, encourage her even further. Ino started a long speech that they both droned out. By the end of it Choji sighed wistfully.

”I wonder whether Ruka’s joining, too.” Ruka was the friendly confectioner’s daughter whose family had a shop near the Akimichi estate.

“Probably not, her parents are civilians,” Shikamaru mused. “If I hadn’t been born into the clan I wouldn’t be planning on becoming a shinobi either.”

Ino grinned cockily. “Feeling cranky ‘cause you’ll be forced to hang out with us normal kids? Hey, who knows, maybe you’ll find the love of your life like I did with Sasuke.”

Shikamaru kept his features neutral. “Unlikely,” he retorted.

“You mean because of your fiancé?” Choji blurted out.

Shikamaru whipped his head around, his gaze pinning his friend down with fierce anger. The other boy threw his hands over his mouth, as if that would take back the words he had spoken.

“Oh my- Oh God, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Choji stammered.

Shikamaru relaxed and let his features slide into their usual nonchalant state. No point in getting upset now. Not only did it require energy, but it also wouldn’t change what had already happened. He knew that Choji slipped that piece of information on accident.

“What?” a high-pitched voice screeched. He had almost forgotten about Ino’s presence. “You’re engaged?”

He suppressed his urge to groan. Great. He shrugged. It only caused Ino to become even more agitated. “What does _that_ mean? Are you engaged, or aren’t you?”

He averted her eyes. “Yeah, I am engaged,” he admitted quietly while being painfully aware of how awkward that sounded coming from the mouth of a six-year-old boy.

“What? With whom? Since when?” she questioned excitedly.  

Shikamaru sighed. Damn. At least he didn’t have to – _couldn’t_ actually tell that. “No idea. Since I was a baby.”

If possible, her eyes seemed to enlarge even further. “What do you mean _no idea_?”

“She’s from another village, okay? I don’t know her.”

She was quiet then, trying to process what she’d just found out.

“But why?”

Shikamaru shrugged.

**.**

The next time he was at the park - not to play with the other hyperactive kids, but to escape his mother and lie on the grass while watching the sky - was probably one week after. He immediately noticed the other children and their parents gazing at him carefully. They, or at least the parents, tried to be subtle about it, but he could sense their eyes on him.

Then, someone finally seemed to gather enough courage to speak up. Shikamaru idly acknowledged that he was an Inuzuka, what was his name? ‘Kiba,’ he remembered.

“Hey Nara, is it true you’ve got a girlfriend?” It was so blunt, it was almost funny.

“Kinda,” he answered. No point in hiding it now, obviously everyone knew, already.  Konoha was a big village, but it was a village nonetheless; most people knew each other. _I told you to keep your mouth shut Ino._

Great.

**.**

The buzz died down quickly. But in the few weeks it lasted, Shikamaru became trashy gossip material for the whole town.

When the whole ordeal came out, everyone was baffled. He didn’t believe that all reactions were completely honest. At the very least, the clan heads, the council and other political leaders in the village must’ve known of the arrangement.  
After all, his fiancé came from another village. To assume that his father would organize something like this without giving those people a heads-up was a little naïve

Sure, they were currently at peace, but that didn’t mean that anyone trusted each other on any level. Each village had spies in other villages and everyone knew it. It is more than possible that the girl he had to marry was being raised to send information on Konoha to her hometown. After all, she had no reason to be loyal to Konoha; on the contrary, she was probably livid at having her life planned ahead by a couple of strangers.

That would mean that the higher-ups in Konoha consider her important enough to risk this probable threat. Everything pointed to this being a result of political scheming.

But that wasn’t why the villagers were so surprised when they heard of Shikamaru’s engagement. Arranged marriages were archaic, something that belonged to the past. Only very traditionalist and conservative clans still organized them if they were strictly necessary.

Now the Naras were known as a rather laid back family.  
It could only mean that this marriage somehow played a role when considering the bigger picture, the bigger picture being village affairs. In no way concerned this matter only the families involved.

The only explanation that Shikamaru could think of was that, for some reason, Konoha wanted to get this girl to come and stay in Konoha. Marrying her off to the clan heir whose family wasn’t only influential but also deeply loyal to the village was a perfect way of assuring that.

Interesting.

Shikamaru was intrigued, already.

**.**

He was twelve years old when he finally graduated from Academy. However, he knew that his graduation didn’t mean that he had become an actual Genin, yet. After all, it didn’t take a genius to recognize that most of the students who had supposedly ‘graduated’ returned to the Academy some days later and stayed there till the next graduation exams.

That was why he waited until he was assigned to a team and met his new teacher. When they had finally passed Asuma-sensei’s test, too, he decided to make his move.

When he entered the compound he saw his father sitting on the timber floor board of their terrace playing Shogi with himself. Shikamaru walked over and sat down cross-legged at the other side of the board. After contemplating for some time, he finally moved the stone on his side of the board and met his father’s eyes.

Shikamaru had always respected him. Not only because of his intelligence that the man was renowned for, but also because of the decisions he made as the head of their clan and as a father. It must be hard, holding all of these positions and titles. Shikaku, however, had always kept a level head and made smart moves.

Shikamaru was thankful that his father had never pressured him by reminding him of his duties as the future clan head. The man had not even spoken to him about Shikamaru holding back at the Academy and keeping his grades intentionally low, although the young Nara knew that his father knew what game his son was playing.

In return, Shikamaru had tried to be a good son. Sure, he was lazy and nonchalant, but he knew that his father didn’t care whether people thought he was dumb as long as he wasn’t. The Naras weren’t a flashy family. No dramatic back story, no kekkei genkais. The only trait that each member of their family possessed was their cleverness.

But it was good the way it was. He’d rather not be known in the whole country for his abilities. The less his enemies knew about him, the better. He didn’t want to gloat, he wanted to survive.

He knew that his father felt the same way. As long as his son was actually able to defend himself in a fight, Shikaku didn’t care whether his son put up an act and pretended to be a good-for-nothing slacker.

Shikamaru knew that he was living up to his father’s standards. Not once had he whined, rebelled or acted childishly and accepted even the arranged marriage without protest. Never had he been a particularly difficult child to handle.  
Today he wanted to reap some fruits of the seeds of his endurance.

“So?” Shikaku finally broke the long silence.

“I passed.” Subtle pride shone in his father’s features as he smiled gently.

“Asuma?”

“Hmmm.”

His father finally made his move on the Shogi board.

“Time has passed quickly,” the man noted in a rarely melancholic tone.

Shikamaru nodded. “I’m twelve already. Only five more years.”

His father’s head shot up, his face mirroring the surprise he felt. It was the first time for Shikamaru to actively bring _that_ topic up. His father was still gazing at him, silently asking what his son’s intentions were. Finally, Shikamaru moved his own player on the board and looked up to meet his father’s gaze.

“I think I deserve to know.”

Shikaku sighed, as if having hoped to evade this conversation.

“You know that it’s a secret and even if I wanted to tell you all about it, I’m not allowed to.”

“I won’t speak to anyone about it,” Shikamaru countered.

“I don’t know son.” His father sighed again. “It didn’t take long for the news of your engagement to spread around town and I was the target of questioning glances for quite some time.” There. That word was out: _Engagement._ Shikamaru hated it.

“I couldn’t control your best friend’s son blurting it out, only so that your other best friend’s daughter could spread the news, although I told her to keep it secret.”

His father cocked a brow, visibly holding himself back from commenting on how much of a smartass his son was being. Another sigh, another move on the Shogi board.

“I cannot tell you everything, not even much. But that what I _can_ tell you, you mustn’t tell anyone, not even your mother. I trust you, Shikamaru.”

The younger Nara nodded, feeling responsibility laying itself on his shoulders. “I promise.” After contemplating for some time, Shikamaru moved another stone.

“Why?”

He had to know. Why did someone even arrange a marriage? What was the reason behind all of this?  
His father carefully gazed at the board, seemingly thinking about his next move. But Shikamaru knew that the older man thought about how to word his answer so that he’d avoid lying while not giving too much information away. Finally, he took a breath and spoke up.

“Her parents were from Konoha. They used to be very important and strong shinobi.” Interesting. So the girl he always thought to be a foreigner actually had her roots in Konoha? “However, the night the Kyuubi attacked, they passed away. After that, there was a big discussion as to what should happen to their daughter. She had become an orphan and she didn’t have any other relatives in Konoha.”

He immediately sensed that something was off. Why was there a big discussion as to what should happen to a random orphan? Many children had lost their parents that day; his fiancé was only one of many. What made her special?

“We knew she had distant relatives in Uzu and the Sandaime believed that it would be the best for her to grow up with them. However, the council was against sending her away. They wanted for her to become a Konoha-shinobi.”

His father sighed again, as if only thinking about those discussions exhausted him. “So we compromised. The council would agree on sending her away, if she was going to return and become a Konoha citizen.”

Shikamaru understood. “So marrying her to a Konoha citizen is only a means to tie her to the village?”

His father nodded. “Yes, that was how the idea of the marriage came up. As the council wanted her to become a kunoichi, they wanted her future husband to be of a ninja clan. For the happiness of both husband and wife, the Sandaime wanted the boy to be around the same age as the girl.”

So at least she was his age. He saved the additional piece of information for later evaluation.

“With these criteria, the number of candidates had shrunk to a handful. Understandably though, everyone was reluctant about arranging the future of their children. The Inuzukas, for example, backed out immediately. Then the Hokage came to me in private and asked for you to carry the burden of this messy situation. And I relented.”

It made sense. The Naras were an influential clan and deeply loyal to Konoha and the Hokage. They constantly made decisions that were beneficial for many people and not solely for them. Considering the prerequisites, he was the best choice for this affair. He couldn’t see his peers taking an arranged marriage as good as he was.

But there was one question that wouldn’t leave his mind: Why did the council want to tie her to the village?

His father had mentioned that her parents were talented shinobi, not that that meant anything. Although genetics played a role, they didn’t determine anything after all. Just because her parents were good shinobi, didn’t mean that she would become one, as well.

Unless, she had something like a kekkei genkai. If that was the case, if her kekkei genkai, or whatever made her desirable as a ninja, was some extinct trait, it would make sense for the council to try and get her into the village.

But if she was that important, then why even go through all the trouble of sending her away? Shikamaru knew that politics didn’t care about a single girl’s happiness when her misery served the benefit of Konoha.

He knew that his father wouldn’t answer these questions, though. The information Shikamaru had received had been worded deliberately vague. His suspicions were confirmed.

“That’s all I can let you know. Even what I’ve just told you is a secret that I shouldn’t have talked about.”

Shikamaru looked him in the eyes. What he was going to ask his father was a needless question, one that didn’t hold any meaning; there was no use in knowing the answer, yet he couldn’t help but wanting to know, anyway.

“What’s her name?”

Shikaku frowned slightly, his voice became reluctant. “Shikamaru-”

“At the very least, I’d like to know the first name of the girl who’s going to be my wife in less than five years.” His voice was unusually bitter, his words harsh.

He felt a little bad about guilt-tripping his father in order to gain information. Obviously the man hadn’t agreed to this whole arrangement lightheartedly. But hey, no one even asked about his opinion and he’ll be the one getting married.

Shikaku sighed. “Naruto.”

Naruto. Suddenly the whole situation seemed too real. Before, his future wife had just been an unknown person, a vague concept; his wedding ages away. But only the presence of a name suddenly gave the anonymous girl an identity and made him realize with full force _I am going to marry Naruto in less than five years_.  
He kept silent for a while after that, gazed at the shogi board, but didn’t really see anything.

“Shikamaru, help me with the bags!” His mother was standing in front of the gates, two big shopping bags in each of her hands.

He looked at the board again and then at his father.

“I guess we’ll finish that another time.”

**.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading :)
> 
> For anyone who’s interested, I want to give an outlook into how this project will continue to develop:  
> Although this is taking place in the Naruto universe I don’t plan on including some canon storylines (Madara, Obito, Akatsuki etc.) into my story. I just see no need in rehashing what has already been dealt with. The characters in my story will face hardships, but I’ll mainly focus on the romance.  
> Please leave a comment; I need all the motivation I can get!  
> .  
>  _RE-EDIT: 19th November 2016_  
>  \- Clearing up some grammar mistakes and anything that made me cringe in retrospect. God bless you all for reading and supporting this chapter back when it was a mess lmao.  
> Don’t expect perfection though, English still isn’t my first language. __


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your lovely comments:)  
> Enjoy!

“Come on, Shikamaru! Run! Run!“ Said boy wasn’t near the group that consisted of three people but he could probably hear the loud voice of Ino Yamanaka clear enough.

Asuma grinned. He liked his team and he knew that each of them would become a formidable ninja one day although only one of them got to participate in the final battles of the chunin exams.   
That was why the teacher was determined to train his student. Currently Shikamaru was only warming up by running laps but even that seemed to exhaust him. When he finally closed distance to the group of three he was panting loud enough for them to hear.

“Shikamaru, you have to work on your speed and stamina. Your strategically gifted mind gives you a great advantage at battles, but it will only bring you so far,” Asuma chided.

The boy rolled his eyes. “If it was up to me, I would stay a Genin and weed gardens till the end of my days. So troublesome…” Tiredly he collapsed on the field of grass.

Ino accusingly pointed her finger at him. “Hey, you aren’t even done yet! Don’t you dare lose that battle! You have to win for our team!” The Nara, not seeming to get more motivated by that comment, sighed in an irritated manner.

“Think of it this way,” Choji argued, “if you win now, you don’t have to participate at the next Chunin exams, at least. If you lose, you have to go through all the stages of the exam again.”

Shikamaru raised his eyebrows. “That actually makes sense.” Groaning, he stood up and halfheartedly began to run again.

Asuma snorted. “Great. We motivate him by promising him to laze around later.” He knew that his student had the capacity to become a strong shinobi. Just looking at how far he had come without even trying was proof of that.

Ino rolled her eyes. “I really feel sorry for the poor girl that has to marry him. He’ll probably be the kind of husband who never does any chores, leaving his wife to do all the work.” She sighed. _Men._

Choji smiled. “I think if he loved her, he’d gladly help and wash the dishes or something.”

Asuma began to laugh. _Yeah right._ He knew that kids grew up and matured, but he simply couldn’t imagine Shikamaru being lovey-dovey with anyone. Neither could he picture a girl being that way with Shikamaru. Briefly he wondered what type of women the boy would even be interested in. Beauty or strength didn’t impress him and it was rare that someone could keep up with his intelligence. Either he found women to be boring or he thought they were too troublesome.

“I have to agree with Ino on that, Choji. Shikamaru doing chores voluntarily? Sooner he’ll stay a bachelor forever.”

Ino whipped her head fast enough around for her ponytail to bop up and down. “What?”

Asuma relented. “Nah, you’re right. Even if he didn’t want to, he’d probably get pressured into getting married. He’s the only clan heir, after all. Although the Naras aren’t too uptight, they wouldn’t want their clan to die out just because Shikamaru was too lazy to go on a date.” He laughed, trying to disperse the tension on Ino’s face.

Choji chose that awkward moment to speak up. “Sensei, could it be that you don’t know?”

Asuma became even more confused. “Know what?”

Finally the girl seemed to recover from her nonplussed state of mind. “’ _Know what?’_ Know about Shikamaru’s engagement, of course!”

At first, Asuma didn’t quite register what Ino had said. He had to roll the words through his mind a couple of times for them to sink in. _Engagement._ Unconsciously he opened his mouth in bewilderment and let his cigarette fall on the ground.

Choji nodded sympathetically. “You really didn’t know.”

 “What engagement? Since when? With whom?”

The boy resumed on eating his chips while rolling his eyes. “Wow Sensei, you really have to catch up with village gossip once in a while. This is old news.”

Before the man could answer Ino butted in. “The other villages are probably more aware on what’s going on in Konoha than you are, Sensei. How didn’t you know?”

Asuma grinned apologetically. “You haven’t answered my questions though.”

The girl sighed as if having told that piece of information many times, already. She _is_ the gossip queen of Konoha, after all.

“He’s been engaged ever since he was really small, an infant only. But Shikamaru’s never met her - At least that’s what he says. Apparently, all he knows is that his fiancé lives in another village.”

Asuma was silent upon hearing that, his mind busy with pondering questions. He watched Shikamaru tiredly run his laps.   
Who would’ve thought that the Naras had agreed on arranging a marriage? If he had expected anything like that, it would’ve been from a strictly traditionalistic clan like the Hyuugas. What was the reason behind all of this? And why did the fiancé come from another village?   
He briefly entertained the thought of asking Ino, but it was obvious that she didn’t know much, or else he would’ve heard all about it by now.

His musings were interrupted when Shikamaru finally arrived and exhaustedly collapsed on the grass for a second time that day. He closed his eyes and panted loud enough for them to hear.

“Shikamaru, quit lazing around!” Ino yelled passionately.

“Let him have a short break,” the teacher interrupted, “and do some stretching. I want you to spar with him after that.”

**.**

After that day’s training session had finally ended, Asuma had invited his team to a barbecue once again. Although Shikamaru told them that he’d rather go home and rest, the teacher had argued that he’d need nutrition, especially proteins, for his muscles to develop. Thereon the boy had relented and had accompanied them to the restaurant.

After they had finished eating dinner, they were ready to return to their homes. As usual, they kept on walking through the streets together until Ino was the first one to go her own ways when they approached the Yamanaka estate. Then Choji returned home. At the end, only Shikamaru and Asuma were walking down the familiar road.

The sun had almost completely vanished, the sky was only slightly illuminated. When they arrived at the crossroads where the teacher would normally take a turn to a different street, he kept on walking by his student’s side in the direction of the Nara estate instead. If Shikamaru was confused by that, he didn’t let it show.

The boy lifted his head to watch the stars emerge behind a layer of clouds. “What is it, Asuma-sensei?”

“Hm?”

Shikamaru’s eyes didn’t stray from the night sky. “You’ve been like that ever since I’ve finished running laps; overthinking and letting me train more on my own than you usually would.”

Asuma should’ve learnt by now to stop getting surprised by Shikamaru’s awareness. But not even he had noticed that he wasn’t acting the way he normally would.

“I’m surprised that you only found out now. I had gradually developed the notion that everyone in Konoha knew.”

Asuma raised an eyebrow, continuing to play dumb. “What do you mean?”

His student rolled his eyes in exasperation. “As if you don’t know. The engagement, of course.”

The sensei grinned guiltily. “What was it that revealed me?”

“That look of pity mixed with curiosity.” Shikamaru finally turned to meet his eyes “I have seen it more times than I care to remember. It wasn’t a mistake on your part, I just have a lot of experience.”

Asuma’s grin slowly faded from his face. “How are you dealing with it?”

Shikamaru knitted his brows. “You’re the first one to ask that.” He shrugged. “We, my parents and I, don’t usually speak about it - like we all silently agreed on ignoring the elephant in the room.”

The teacher felt sympathy for the boy. But his original question had been unanswered. “And? How do you deal with it?”

The Nara sighed. “Usually I don’t. I try not to think about it.” Feeling that the boy wasn’t finished yet, Asuma remained silent. “But lately it’s been on my mind. Especially at the beginning of the Chunin exams.” He chuckled. It was a bitter sound. “I was so paranoid that she might be under the participants..” He let out a tired sigh. “She’s not even here and she’s already managed to rile me up.”

Asuma was careful to keep his face neutral. It was rare of Shikamaru to speak about his feelings this openly. Evidently the whole ordeal must’ve been pretty stressful on him.

“That’s what women do. You shouldn’t be too hard on yourself though. Anyone would react the same – no, they’d be hysterical – if they were in your shoes.”

The boy didn’t seem convinced. “It hasn’t always been this way. Before, I was always able to shut it out but nowadays-” He gulped and took a deep breath. After a moment of silence he spoke up again. “I always have to think of how much time there’s left until the… _marriage_.”

Asuma felt sorry for his student. No matter how mature Shikamaru was, it was obvious that the burdens of his future were lying heavily on him.

He felt a stab of guilt at having thought that the boy lead a relatively easy life. An influential family, his position as the clan heir, his easy-going father and fact that he had hit the genetic lottery on the intelligence department - All of this didn’t equilibrate the responsibility that he had to take at such a young age.

“I simply feel as if I’m not ready to get married. And I can’t see myself at a different place five years from now.” So the wedding was going to take place when he was only seventeen years old.

They both halted in their tracks when they noticed that they had arrived at the Nara estate. Asuma turned around to look Shikamaru in the eyes and placed a hand on his student’s shoulder.

“I won’t tell you to relax or stop taking it too serious, Shikamaru - It’s not my place to do so. What you’re carrying is a burden and that’s why it is completely fine to be frustrated at times. But you shouldn’t allow your worries to take over your life.”

The boy’s smile was faint.

“You should rest. I’ll meet you tomorrow at the same training ground at one pm. Be glad I’m letting you sleep in,” he teased lightheartedly.

“Thanks Sensei.”

**.**

After that talk with Asuma-sensei, Shikamaru tried to see things in a more relaxed way. It was funny that he, of all people, had to be told to be more easygoing. In retrospect, he couldn’t believe how he’d allowed himself to get so riled up; it had been out of character. **  
** So for some time he tried to forget about it. After all, he still had a battle with the troublesome Suna-girl to fight.

But as if life hadn’t been difficult enough until then, some idiots actually went and decided to attack Konoha.

So when he stood in front of eight Oto-nins, playing bait and trying to stall them, knowing full well that there was no way he could beat them with his depleted chakra reserves, he suddenly remembered again.

Then he became irritated about having spent so much time worrying over this stupid marriage that wasn’t even going to happen. Even now during the last minutes of his life he thought about it. Although he told himself to let it go, to avoid spending even more time on this crap he couldn’t help himself.

That marriage had been an idiotic concept to begin with, the plan completely faulted. It had always been very likely that he’d die before even turning seventeen. His heritage had not only determined his wife, but also his job. Before he’d even been born it had been clear that he was going to become a shinobi, which wasn’t an exactly safe profession.

Shikamaru asked himself whether the responsible people had ever thought of a back-up plan in case this would happen; whether one of the other ninjas his age would be forced into marrying Naruto or if they’ll decide to blow this whole thing off after all.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of someone jumping down the tree standing behind him. He believed he was going to get killed when he saw that it was Asuma-sensei who had been hiding between the leaves. The man defeated the enemy effortlessly. His teacher was amazing, beating a group of foreign ninjas up without breaking a sweat.

But because he was too tired to care he resolved to exhaustedly collapsing to the ground.

_I guess that wedding still stands Naruto._

**.**

Although his state of engagement hadn’t changed that day, many other things in Konoha did.

The Hokage was killed by his own student, a man who had been a nuke-nin for some time. Although the Kazekage had died as well, Shikamaru couldn’t bring up any sympathy towards the citizens of the Wind.   
But Konoha had to move on. Soon Tsunade, another one of Sandaime’s students, hopefully one that wasn’t quite as psychopathic as some others, became the Godaime.

Shikamaru attended too many funerals and helped to repair the damage that had been afflicted to buildings and infrastructure.

When they had finally begun to hope that they could recover, Sasuke Uchiha, the boy from Team Seven, betrayed Konoha by leaving the village in order to gain power that Orochimaru, the very man who had attacked their home, had been promising him.   
It wasn’t like Shikamaru had ever cared all that much about him, on the contrary, he’d disliked the Uchiha ever since their Academy days. But it was discouraging to experience a fellow Konoha-shinobi, someone who was supposed to be a comrade, turn his back on them.

But Shikamaru dealt with it and moved on. He learnt not to dwell; everyday could be his last.

**.**

It was a month after his sixteenth birthday when the Hokage called him to her office.   
When Shikamaru stepped into the room he noticed that Tsunade was alone; no Shizune, no council, not even the Anbu was present. He knew that they wouldn’t be talking about mission assignments.  
He suppressed the urge to gulp anxiously when her cold eyes pierced into his. For some odd reason she liked to make others nervous.

“Shikamaru,” she greeted. “You know that there are documents in this village that only a limited number of people have access to, the Hokage being one of them.”   
Confused, he nodded. What was the purpose of that statement? “Do you know what happens to those documents after the Hokage dies?”

Not understanding her point, he believed it her question to be rhetorical at first. But after a moment of silence he realized that Tsunade was actually expecting an answer and cleared his throat to respond.

“I suppose the successor gains access to this material.”

The woman nodded approvingly. “That’s right. It took me some time to work myself through these endless amounts of insensate crap but I‘ve found something that you may find interesting.”

Shikamaru knitted his brows. He could think of only one topic that’d fit into this bizarre situation. “You’re alluding to the engagement.”   
After all this time it was catching up with him again.

The Godaime nodded. Then she pulled out a brown, weathered folder that’d been lying underneath a staple of paper. “You want to see them?”

Whether he wanted to see them? He was pretty sure that there wouldn’t be much of any use in there. Shikamaru was stuck in an unwanted engagement and no amount of information would change that.

But in the end his curiosity got the best out of him. Wordlessly he approached her desk and accepted the folder. In it there was a sheet of paper. The edges had slightly yellowed in the past sixteen years but were undamaged otherwise.   
He began to read through the long text, finished it and read it again. At the bottom end there stood his father’s and the Sandaime’s signature, just like he imagined it all those years ago.

Weird how you could decide over another human being’s future by the flick of your pen. Ultimately this document traded people. It was just another time he wondered whether their villages were as civilized as they prided themselves to be.

Although he reread the whole thing again, he didn’t gain much new information from the text since it’d been worded in a pretty vague way.  There was just one thing: _Uzumaki_. It was her last name.

_Naruto Uzumaki._ He repeated it a few times in his head, trying to picture the person with this unusual name. Soon he became irritated - Like it mattered what her full name was. She was going to be Naruto Nara in a year anyway.

He tried to feel resentment against Naruto Uzumaki because he couldn’t express any towards the Sandaime or his father. They were the real target of his anger.   
But he was known for understanding when a fight was lost. There’d be no point in rebelling because he didn’t have the power to prevent the set future.

But when he read through the text, those mere words that had doomed his life forever, he couldn’t prevent the bitterness from arising inside of him.

Appalled, but with a straight look on his face, he laid the folder back on Tsunade’s desk. She was staring at him with a rarely seen sympathetic look in her eyes.

“You’re probably trying to ignore that part of your future but it’s a hard-edged truth that it’s going to happen in less than a year.” Her voice was soft, yet firm.   
“I want to suggest something to you. Think about this on your own and don’t let yourself be influenced by other people. Considering the situation, you have every right to be selfish.”

Shikamaru remained silent and waited for her to continue. “We could ask Naruto Uzumaki to come to Konoha sooner than originally planned.”

He didn’t understand. Why would Tsunade think that he’d marry this foreign girl any earlier than he had to? If it was up to him, he’d enjoy every minute of freedom until it was torn away from him.   
However his face must’ve mirrored his confusion.

“Not in order to marry. Just for you to get used to each other. I know I’m not offering much, but it’s everything I have. Maybe it’d be easier on both of you if you’d get acquainted to each other instead of jumping into marriage life headfirst.”

Shikamaru nodded stiffly. His mind was blank. “Can I visit you at the end of the week to give you my answer?”

**.**

Five days had passed and he still wasn’t any closer to making a decision.

His intuitive reaction to the Hokage’s proposal was _no_. _Hell, no._ Shikamaru wanted to put, not only the marriage, but everything that concerned _Naruto Uzumaki_ off for as long as possible.

However, he begrudgingly admitted that Tsunade had a point. If he stalled the whole matter, his fiancé would eventually appear on their wedding day.   
He’d have to live in the same house with her, share a room and even sleep in the same bed. Her, a stranger. Shikamaru shuddered.

Of course, it would still be awkward if she came to Konoha earlier than that. But at least they’d have some time to get to know each other so that the transition to marriage would be a little smoother.

Shikamaru groaned. God damn it. Logically, the latter option was the right one, but his gut was rebelling at the notion of having to meet Naruto in such a short time.

But a Nara always went with the smart decision. With an air of finality he realized that although he wanted to rebel with every fiber of his body, his brain had already decided.

Still he waited until the end of the week to tell Tsunade about his decision. When the day arrived, he felt absolutely miserable.   
In answer to the Hokage’s questioning glance he spoke while trying to avoid her eyes, knowing the vast outcome of these words.

“I’d like to take you up on your offer.”

She nodded.

“I’ll get in contact with Naruto Uzumaki. Of course, she has to agree on this, too. I’ll let you know as soon as I get an answer.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first contact between Shikamaru and Naruto is going to be discussed in the next chapter. But she won’t make an appearance yet. That will probably happen the chapter after that.  
> I thank you all so much for reading and taking the time to comment!  
> .  
> RE-EDIT: 26th December 2016


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, the first credit goes to you for reading and commenting on the last chapter. That’s what makes me put much more effort into this than I normally would. I’m in the middle of my final exams, but I’ll try to write as much and as good as I can.  
> Anyway, I hope you like Chapter 3!

While Shikamaru was making his way to return home from the Hokage tower, he couldn’t help but hope for Naruto to decline Tsunade’s offer. Just because he’d made the strategically best decision didn’t mean that he was happy with it.

When he arrived at their estate, he forewent entering the house in favor of climbing straight on the roof. He needed to think.

Shikamaru didn’t notice how time flew by and was surprised when he heard his mother yelling his name at the top of her lungs to call him down for dinner. Reluctantly, he stood up from where he’d been lying and watching the cloudy sky, to return the dining room.

He’d decided not to tell his parents or anyone else about Tsunade’s offer and the decision that he had made. After all, his fiancé could still decline and there’d be no use in informing anyone if this whole thing was going to be blasted off.

The sound of knocking on the door interrupted his thoughts.

“Are you expecting anyone?” his mother asked into the round. When both he and his father shook their heads she stood up and left the room, leaving Shikamaru with Shikaku’s heavy gaze resting on him.

“Is there something troubling you, son?”

Shikamaru avoided the man’s eyes. He knew that he was behaving suspiciously but he feared that Shikaku’s piercing stare would tear every single secret out of him. So he tried to evade the question.

“What makes you think that?”

He was sure that his father knew what game he was playing but maybe he’d manage to stall long enough for his mother to return.

“You’re even more pensive than usual,” the older Nara supplied.

Shikamaru didn’t comment on the man’s words. He’d rather not lie to his father but he also wanted to keep his thought to himself.

Shikaku sighed. “Alright. But don’t forget that I’m here if you need anything.”

That was what made the son finally look up, grateful that they were dropping the subject.

“Thank you. I know.”

**.**

It took three days for the Hokage to finally call him to her office again. Three agonizing days he was constantly lost in his thoughts, paranoid about Tsunade sending for him any moment.

When an eagle circled around him in the sky and signaled that the Hokage was calling for him, he finally relaxed the muscles he didn’t he’d been constricting. Finally he’d receive an answer, something that would change the current situation.

An eternity seemed to have passed in his eyes although a three days wait was actually very little time.  
After all, the message had to arrive at Uzu and then an answer had to be send back to Konoha.

It could only mean that his fiancé hadn’t thought about Tsunade’s offer for too long. Unlike him, she hadn’t spent a week rolling the idea through his head, looking at it from all sides and weighing the pros and cons for a countless amount of times.  
So more of a gut instinct type of person?

Great. Their first incompatibility.

Maybe he’d find out more when he arrived at the Hokage tower. Luckily, he wasn’t required to wait and could enter Tsunade’s office right away.  
When he opened her door, she looked up from the documents she’d been reading.

“Ah, Shikamaru. Sit down.”

Her voice was soft and he could almost taste the pity it was laced with. He was experienced in detecting it all too good. Regardless, he closed the door behind him and sat down at the other end of the desk.

“I have received an answer.” She paused and kept on staring at him for a short while which annoyed him to no end. This was not the time for being dramatic. Finally she resumed.  
“Naruto agrees to our offer. She asks when it would be the most convenient for you and your family.”

Shikamaru exhaled. It was done. The decision had been made.

“I’ll ask my parents tonight. Can I come to inform you tomorrow?”

She nodded. “I’ll be expecting you.”

He stood up. He needed to get away from here and spend some time with himself and think this all through. Just as he attempted to leave Tsunade spoke up again.

“Wait, there’s something I have for you.”

She began to search through her desk drawer. After a short while she pulled out an envelope and offered it to him. Questioningly, he raised a one thin eyebrow.

“It’s from Naruto. She wants you to have it.”

Confused, he stared at the offending piece of paper. For him? Why would she write him and what the hell would she have to say to him?

He shoved these questions aside and decided to deal with them later. He felt overwhelmed with the news he’d received and all he wanted was some piece.

He took the envelope. Although it seemingly consisted of regular paper, it felt scratchy in his hands. Shikamaru knew that it were his hyperaware nerve endings that were playing a trick on him.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” Tsunade muttered. She went through her drawer again and pulled out a square, little piece of paper. “There you go.”

Feeling curious, he grasped it and stared at the strange ink patterns that he failed to decipher.

“It’s a seal. You have to press it onto the letter and seep a little chakra into it. That’s the only way to open the envelope. If you tried it with violence, it’d destroy itself.” She grinned. “The seal is only compatible with Naruto’s and your chakra. No one else can activate it.”

He nodded stoically, ignoring the questions that were swirling inside his head.

When he exited the tower he was careful to walk slowly; he didn’t want to catch anyone’s attention. He didn’t want to walk into anyone he knew, he didn’t to talk.  
The only thing he could focus on was the envelope that he’d hidden under his vest. With every step he took he could feel it brushing against the thin fabric of his sweater.

When he finally returned home, he checked whether his parents had arrived. Only some of his other relatives were strolling outside the estate.

When he finally reached his room and released a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Quickly he went to the shelf and pressed the letter and the seal between two books. It wasn’t a good hiding place but he’d return to it in a little while.

Shikamaru just needed a little time.

**.**

He’d walked into the forest, just deep enough so he wouldn’t meet anyone. Now he was lying on a thick branch of an old tree with a free view to the sky.

His mind was full of problems waiting to be analyzed and dissected. He sighed. First things first. He decided to deal with these questions step by step.

So the first problem at hand was Naruto agreeing on coming to Konoha. His feelings towards that hadn’t swayed and he’d still been trying to avoid their first meeting for as long as possible. But he knew that this was the best solution for everyone involved.  
Yet he couldn’t help the feel nothing but dread when he realized that the die has been cast now. It was certain that his fiancé would come to Konoha even earlier than actually planned. Ignorance of her decision had plagued but also comforted him. It had given him room for hope.

But now he’d have to talk with his parents about the whole matter, which he couldn’t even delay any further since he’d told Tsunade that he’d inform her when Naruto should best arrive. It was a conversation he desperately wanted to avoid but there was no helping it.  
Tonight, he’d speak to his parents about the Hokage’s offer, his decision, Naruto’s answer and finally, her request. So the first problem had been dealt with. Moving on to the next.

That letter.

Confusion was a vast understatement of his feelings towards it. Shikamaru wondered why she’d even bother sending a letter. It wasn’t like they had anything to say to each other – because they didn’t know each other, _at all._ He frowned.

That lead to the question what the content could probably entail. Obviously, he could simply open the envelope and read that damned thing.  
But until now it seemed like learning anything about this girl only resulted in more problems.

Shikamaru groaned. _Who are you Naruto Uzumaki?_

**.**

After he realized how much time had passed in the woods, he made his way to return home, just in time not to miss dinner.

“Well, hello stranger, didn’t think we’d be seeing you today,” his mother greeted sarcastically.

Yoshino Nara valued family dinners, even more so since Shikamaru was being assigned with a rising number of missions in the last years. She meant well.

Shikamaru couldn’t decide whether he should be annoyed with her aggressive attitude or be relieved about being able to put _that_ conversation off just a little further.

Shikaku chuckled and watched his son fondly. “Isn’t it the end result that counts? He is here. The rest shouldn’t matter.”

“I’ve lost track of time,” Shikamaru answered truthfully. “And the Hokage’s called for me,” he added on an afterthought. Better be over and done with it.

He sat on the chair facing his father and took the plate that his mother offered him. He’d never be able to finish the food that was stacked on it. His frayed nerves had killed every sense of appetite he might have had otherwise.

“What for? Another mission assignment? Your last one wasn’t that long ago,” she remarked.

Shikamaru played with his food by pushing it from one side of the plate to the other until he gave up and looked his mother in the eyes.

“The Godaime wanted to talk about an offer she made to me less than two weeks ago.”

His parents inquired him with curious looks. “Well, what was it about?” Yoshino asked. “Assuming it isn’t confidential,” Shikaku added, always the politician.

Shikamaru took deep breath. “She offered inviting Naruto over earlier than planned.” Taking their silence as an indication to elaborate, he continued.

“I accepted it.”He shifted his eyes to look at his father. “Then she asked Naruto and she agreed, too. Tsunade wants to know which date would fit you both the best.”

For several seconds nothing was said. Unsurprisingly, Yoshino was the first one to speak up.

“I guess we should decorate one of the guest rooms first. The wall color has faded and since she’s gonna stay for a while we should freshen that up. Take care of that. I’ll look into some matching curtains and a rug. Probably should take about three weeks with how lazy you are. Shikaku?”

Shikamaru could sympathize with his father’s dumbfounded expression although they should’ve learnt by now to expect this. Because that was what Yoshino Nara always did. She didn’t overthink or analyze like her husband or son, she simply _reacted_.

“Three weeks should be fine,” his father agreed when he finally gathered his senses.

Shikamaru nodded in understanding. “Can I leave? I’m not hungry.”

**.**

With a deep sigh Shikamaru leaned against the white porcelain and let his body relax in the hot water that filled the broad bathtub. He was at ease knowing that no one would bother him in the bathroom.  
That was the reason why he had picked this place for gathering the courage to read Naruto’s letter.

With still-dry fingers, he reached for the envelope and the seal that he had lain on the ground before filling the tub. Following Tsunade’s instructions, he pressed the little piece of paper on the envelope and seeped some of his chakra into it. Suddenly, the places that once had been glued together separated themselves.

A spark of excitement shot through him. He paused.  
_Excitement?_ That was ridiculous. He wasn’t a kid getting his first love note. Well, he hadn’t gotten a love note before and this girl was his fiancée, but still.

After taking a deep breath he let his fingers travel into the envelope and take out a _neon orange_ sheet of paper _._ He stirred.  
Who the hell would use that kind of material?

Years later, he wouldn’t dare to admit that his hands were slightly shaking when he unfolded the sheet and began to read silently.  
  
  
_Hey Shikamaru!_

_I know what you’re thinking now: ‘Orange? Really? Why?’ It’s the best color ever, that’s why!_

_That is, if this letter ever reaches you. I don’t know whether Tsunade will want to give it to you. But in case someone tried to open it (and I know they will try, call it female intuition if you want to) I placed a seal on it. Reading other people’s post is creepy, but not rare. So I wanted to be extra cautious._

_Anyway, I’m looking forward to coming to Konoha! I’d love to get out of Uzu more often.  
Did you know I was from here? I’m wondering how much information you have on me since I don’t have a lot on you. They made a huge fuss over keeping everything about you a huge secret. _

_But I’ve gone off track again. I was saying that I’d like to see Konoha and I’m excited to meet you and your people. I’m not just saying that, I really am. I don’t know, I just hope that you’re not a prick. As for myself, I guess I’m alright._

_So weird, right? That we know almost nothing about each other. Anyway, that was the reason I wrote this. I thought if I had already established some sort of contact with you, you’d know what to expect._

_Because one thing that they did tell me about you was that you’re pretty smart. Does this letter tell you anything about me, Shikamaru? Are you intelligent enough to deduct something about your fiancé through a mere couple lines?_

_But there’s also another reason for sending you this._

_Since I’m the one coming to Konohagakure I thought it’d be appropriate to bring souvenirs with me! But knowing myself I’ll probably forget the gifts at home. So I thought, why not send it now?_

_Have you noticed the patterns on the inside of the envelope?_  
  
  
Shikamaru put the letter aside in order to grab the envelope. He had noticed a smear of ink at the inner corner before but he had ignored it because the orange paper had been all he’d been able to focus on.

With his curiosity peaked, he turned the envelope inside out to inspect the dried stain closely. On first glance, it was only that, an accidental bead of ink.  
But on close inspection he could spot patterns that twirled into each other, seemingly coincidental swirls having a purpose. _A seal_ , he deduced.

Even with having little to no knowledge on seals Shikamaru was able to notice that the patterns were familiar. It could only mean that this was a more common seal, or else he wouldn’t recognize anything. Going over the possibilities, he deducted that this was most probably a storage seal. He picked the letter up again.

 

_It’s a storage seal, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. Seep some chakra into it if you haven’t already._

_  
_ He did like he was told and focused some chakra into the small seal. Suddenly an orange, scrunched-up piece of paper popped out of the inky patterns. Rolling the ball between two fingers, he noticed that there was something inside that the paper was wrapping up. When he unwrinkled it a little, green gem-like stone appeared.

It was beautiful. Although the edges were uneven and bulky, the faint white swirls against the dark green gave it an oddly elegant look. String was drawn through the self made hole on the upper part of the stone.  
A necklace. Shikamaru grasped the letter again.  
  
  
_It’s pretty, isn’t it? I found the gem while I was travelling with my sensei near the mountains. He said it’s a ‘moss agate’. I don’t think that it’s particularly expensive but it’s supposed to enhance chakra levels and healing abilities. Now I don’t really believe in that sort of thing, but even if it worked, I don’t think I’d need it. Maybe you’ll find it more useful? At the very least it’s nice to look at._

_Anyway, we’ll see each other in some time. I’ll expect Tsunade to inform me. Till then, goodbye!_

_Naruto Uzumaki_  
  
  
Shikamaru stared at the green gem and groaned. Whatever he had expected this letter to be, _this_ wasn’t it. It was as if some outside forces had handpicked Naruto to become his future wife just to throw him off balance.  
After taking a deep breath he started to analyze.

Her writing style was jovial and sloppy, comfortable as if she’d known Shikamaru for years. What was even stranger was the content.  

_I’d like to see Konoha and I’m excited to meet you and your people._

Was she lying? Trying to lull him into false comfort to win his trust and get information on Konoha? It was a valid concern because her writings were nothing if not suspicious. Nobody would look forward to come to the village that had doomed your future.

He didn’t trust Naruto Uzumaki.

So he picked up the letter and reread the whole thing again. One particular passage stuck out to him.

_Does this letter tell you anything about me, Shikamaru? Are you intelligent enough to deduct something about your fiancé through a mere couple lines?_

It was almost a taunt, Shikamaru realized. She was teasing him. For the umpteenth time in his life, but with much more fervor than ever before, he asked himself who the hell his fiancé actually was.

His head started to hurt when he faced the biggest enigma at hand: the necklace. Why did she send it? Could it be that-  
Carefully he laid the stone aside.

Shikamaru doubted that she’d dare to do it. Still, it wasn’t completely amiss to consider that she might have laced her gift with some sort of substance. Writing like a happy-to-go, friendly girl only to get him to activate the seal and infect him with some sort of toxic material.

Confusedly, he attempted to analyze the letter again.  
The one thing that stood in stark contrast to the rest of the contents of the envelope was the handwriting - more like calligraphy really. It wasn’t sloppy and confusing like her words, but it wasn’t girly or pretty either. No unnecessary swirls or attempts to make it look cute. No, it was simply incredibly neat.

Shikamaru groaned and let his body sink even deeper into the warm water. Everything about Naruto Uzumaki was a big puzzle. _An interesting puzzle_ , a voice in his head supplied. He brushed it aside.

Tomorrow he’d go to the Hokage and let her know that his fiancé could arrive in three weeks from now. Then he’d find Shizune and let the stone be inspected by her to make sure that it wasn’t laced with any substances that didn’t belong in there.

Shikamaru closed his eyes. That was everything he could take, he was tired.

**.**

The next day at breakfast his mother asked him and his father with which color they should paint the guest room with.

“Every girl likes pink. So why not go with pink?” his father answered nonchalantly. It was obvious that he couldn’t care less which color they chose but he wouldn’t dare to say that to his wife.

“What if she isn’t a girly girl?” Shikamaru countered. He didn’t really know why he even bothered arguing but that’s what Yoshino made the Nara men do: discuss over pointless matters.

He could feel that his father was close to rolling his eyes. “Then go with green. It’s neutral. Tomboy or princess, it fits everyone.”

Shikamaru stood up and carried his dishes to the sink. “I have to go inform the Hokage. I was supposed to meet her today.” He headed towards the door but halted at the threshold. In an afterthought he added, “Take orange.”

His mother raised her eyebrows as she stared at him suspiciously. “Why orange?”

Shikamaru shrugged and escaped.

**.**

After speaking to Tsunade, he was assigned a B rank mission right afterwards. It wouldn’t start till five hours though. That’s why he decided to use that time to search for Shizune before packing his supplies and meeting up with his teammates.

When he finally found her while she was going through some documents in the Hospital, he asked her to run some test on the gem.

She took the offered stone and stared at it with curiosity. “Can I ask what for?”

“I just want to make sure that there’s nothing that doesn’t belong in there,” he answered evasively.

The doubt in her expression was clear for him to see. “No shit. But you know that the services of the laboratories are not open to public.”

Shikamaru wanted to groan. Why did she have to be difficult? “It’s for the well-being of Konoha.” He knew he was laying it on thick but luckily it convinced her nonetheless.

Shizune sighed and put the necklace into a little plastic bag that had been lying nearby. “You’ll have to wait though. It’ll be ready in a week.”

Satisfied, Shikamaru thanked her and returned home to pack. But his mother wasn’t very happy about his sudden departure.

“But what about the paint?”

Shikamaru didn’t know why it was so important how the damn wall was painted but he didn’t want to start a fight over it. Besides having no time, those fights always ended up with his mom as the victor. There was no use in fighting if you were going to lose anyway.

“Buy it. And the rest. I’ll deal with it when I’m back,” he answered swiftly and made his way to meet up with his team.

**.**

They were travelling for three days when he finally decided to ask his teacher something that he had been wondering about for some time

“Asuma-sensei?”

Choji and Ino turned around to listen to what he was saying when Asuma grunted questioningly to encourage him to go on.

“These vendors who’re selling all these gems which are supposed to affect your health positively and enhance your chakra levels – Those things aren’t valid, are they?”

“Shikamaru!” Ino screeched, “I can’t believe that you’re getting lazy enough for you to consider something that dumb instead of getting your ass up and work out!”

But Shikamaru didn’t pay her any attention and resorted to staring at his sensei who seemed to be lost in his thoughts.

“Well,” Asuma began, “more often than not, the stones that vendors are selling at souvenir shops won’t be affecting anything since they’re faked. But supposedly there are some gems that have just the right amount of certain minerals to have a positive effect on the human body. But that effect is only minimal, I can’t imagine that you’d really feel a valid change even if you were in the possession of a real gem.”

Shikamaru nodded. He had been thinking about the moss agate, the letter, the seals and Naruto in general for a while now.  
That girl had already managed to turn his life into a nerve wrecking mess and he doubted that her actual presence would bring any clarity.

Actually, he couldn’t remember the last time he just leaned back and relaxed. For some time – even before Tsunade’s offer – he’d been tense with the knowledge of his approaching marriage.

That’s why he expected Naruto’s arrival with dread and anticipation. Dread, because he feared that his life would become even more difficult than it currently was. Anticipation, because he hoped that her presence would finally solve all these puzzles that were occupying him.

But that wasn’t the only reason. Although Shikamaru wanted to deny it, there was another thing that made him feel excited over his fiancé’s arrival.  
She had not reacted the way he had expected her to. She was interesting and he was intrigued. That girl already had him on the hook just because she was so damn good at surprising him _._

_Who are you Naruto Uzumaki?_

He couldn’t count how many times he had asked that question. Not that he was sure whether he truly wanted to know an answer.

His fiancé had become a walking enigma by going against everything that she should be doing. Just when Shikamaru finally thought that he’d caught up with her, she effortlessly pulled a move to catch him completely off guard.

He sighed and muttered, “Troublesome,” before jumping towards the next branch.

 _18 days until her arrival_ , he reminded himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess which blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl is going to appear next chapter?   
> .  
> RE-EDIT: 02nd January 2017


	4. 4

Shikamaru returned from the mission only to discover that his home had been turned upside down while he was away. His relatives had all fled, probably to escape the wrath of the Nara matriarch who was currently furiously scrubbing the windows of the main house. When she spotted her son, her eyes lightened up.

“Ah, Shikamaru! Finally! Go take care of that paint!”

Without a comment, he entered the house where his father had been apparently bullied to scrub the kitchen counters. Shikamaru raised a brow, a wry grin on his face.

“Isn’t that a little bit over the top?” The house already had been clean before. His father’s face fell.

“Your mother wants everything to be completely perfect for when she arrives.”

Shikamaru groaned. He could understand that Yoshino was probably nervous but making such a fuss over the state of a completely fine house was troublesome. That’s why he lazily took a shower, changed his clothes, and finally escaped through the roof. No way in hell he would spend energy by helping to clean an already clean house.

.

The days passed faster than he expected them to. Meanwhile his mother eventually managed to capture him and forced him to paint the godforsaken walls. Surprisingly, his parents really had bought orange paint, although it was fortunately not the obnoxious neon orange that Naruto used in her letter but rather a soothing pastel tone. Somewhere along, his mom had bought new curtains, bed linen and furniture in general, which Shikamaru found completely unnecessary.

“When you’re married you can bring them to your own house”, was his mother’s argument and he shut up afterwards, as he really didn’t want to talk about _that_ topic any further than absolutely needed.

Furthermore, he met Shizune to gain the results of the tests that had been run on Naruto’s moss agate.

“No dangerous substances. Just a regular moss agate”, had been her answer. She looked slightly annoyed as she had probably caught up to the fact that he was laying thick when he was claiming that examining the gem had been for the well-being of Konoha in the first place. Shikamaru hoped that it wouldn’t come to bite him in the ass when he needed her the next time.

.

Currently, he was lying with Choji on the Akimichi roof.

“You aren’t going to ask anything about it?” he inquired.

Choji merely grinned. “The last time we talked about it, things went havoc.” The look on his face was amused.

Shikamaru remembered all those years ago, when he’d been sitting on the very same spot with his best friend and Ino had visited them not long after. It only lasted a day till the whole village knew about his engagement.

“Everybody already knows about her arrival anyway.” It was true. This time, he tried to be even more secretive about his fiancé but his mother was the one who didn’t even bother keeping it to herself. Shikamaru knew that they were a hot gossip topic.

“Yes”, Choji supplied “everybody is talking about the future Nara matriarch. It will quiet down though.”

The Nara scrunched his eyebrows up. “I doubt that.”

His friend looked surprised. “Why do you think so?”

“That girl”, he paused, pondering how to word it “doesn’t seem like someone that you stop talking about. She stands out from the rest of the crowd.”

“How do you know that?”

He shrugged. Fortunately, Choji wasn’t one to interrogate someone even if he got curious, as he had a healthy amount of respect for other people’s privacy. If it wasn’t that way, Shikamaru hadn’t bothered telling him about his fiancé.

“You know her name is Naruto?”

“Really? Strange.”

“Yeah. Naruto Uzumaki.” He wondered whether the people gossiping about her knew her name.

“She sent me this.” He seized into his pants pocket, pulling the green gem necklace out and stretching it out towards Choji. His friend grasped and inspected it with sparkling eyes while a smile was stretching out on his face.

“It’s pretty.”

Shikamaru shrugged. The Akimichi heir turned to look him in the eyes. “You should wear it.”

The Nara raised a brow but Choji didn’t relent. “I think it’s a nice gesture, the least you can do is wearing it.” He gave the necklace back to Shikamaru again, who shrugged and put the gift back in his pants pocket.

“I might.”

.

In order to pick Naruto up on the day she would arrive, Shikamaru made some plans. Firstly, he traded doing some house chores for his mother’s promise to keep the date of his fiancé’s arrival a secret. Then, through some well-placed, subtle comments he gave Ino the impression that Naruto would appear a week later in Konoha than she actually would. That way, no one would bother him the day she would really come.

He decided that it was the best decision to pick Naruto up at the gates by himself. To send someone else would be rude and seeing as he’s having to get along with her for the rest of his life, they should probably have a good start. Most definitely he didn’t want to have his family with him while doing that, as he could practically envision them (his father subtly, his mother not so) gawking at her and watching their interaction, which would make everything much more uncomfortable.

When the morning of her arrival had come, his mother was still buzzing around trying to perfect every last detail at the house. Shikamaru refrained from groaning when she found something that wasn’t up to her standards _again_.

“Flowers! We forgot to put fresh flowers in the vase in her room! Shikamaru, quick, go to the Yamanaka shop and buy some!”

He wasn’t in the mood to do anything since he’d already slept poorly the night before. It was extremely rare for him to not being able to rest but it had been the day before his fiancé’s arrival, which would make anyone nervous.

“Why me?” he asked, not really wanting to know the answer, just looking for a way to stall.

“Well”, his mother looked at him conspiratorially “You obviously know more about her than I do, looking at how you were aware of her favorite color and all. So you should know her favorite flowers, too, right?”

He sighed. His mother would never let that die down. He should have simply kept his mouth shut and let them paint the room pink or green or whatever. Although he really couldn’t be bothered with going out now, he wanted to listen to Yoshino’s lecture even less.

So he went to the Yamanaka shop, where luckily Inoichi instead of his daughter was standing at the counter. Shikamaru greeted him and looked at the flowers. There were so many colors and shapes that it was starting to strain his eyes.

“Whom are the flowers for?” the Yamanaka head asked. Suddenly he wished Ino would have taken his place, after all; at least she wouldn’t notice when she was lied to, if you were good enough. However, this man was impossible to deceive.

“A girl.” Shikamaru knew that Inoichi knew who he was talking about. The man hasn’t been living under a rock, after all.

The older man started at him pensively. “Do you know the colors she likes?”

Shikamaru shrugged. “Orange. The bouquet shouldn’t be orange though.” He didn’t care about decoration but he was almost sure his mom would get a heart attack if he showed up with orange flowers for an orange room.

“Can you describe her to me? Character traits?” Shikamaru could have rolled his eyes. He didn’t even got to see the girl, for God’s sake. So he had to make assumptions through the information he _did_ have. After all, he didn’t read that letter a hundred times for nothing and he had always been good in analyzing others.

“I suppose… energetic, impulsive, optimistic and… friendly -“ he stopped himself from saying _intriguing_. That wasn’t a character trait. He put his hands in his pants pocket and played with the green gem in it. “And…” he searched for the word that would describe what he thought of Naruto when he read those lines in the letter that stood out the most. ‘ _Does this letter tell you anything about me, Shikamaru? Are you intelligent enough to deduct something about your future wife through some lines?’_ “Foxy.” _You can bet your sweet ass I am._

Fortunately Inoichi didn’t interrogate him any further and started putting together a bouquet. Shikamaru didn’t quite understand what system he was following but at the end he could spot many daffodils and an occasional baby’s breath and some red flowers which he didn’t know the name of. Even though he knew next to nothing of arranging flowers, he recognized that the bouquet gave of happy vibes, the heavy yellow color making it seem like a ball of sunshine. The Yamanaka sure knew what he was doing.

.

It was 5pm and Shikamaru had been waiting at the gates for half an hour, since the Hokage had assured him that Naruto would appear around that time. He’d been pondering how much contact Tsunade and his fiancé actually had that made the Godaime always know where the girl was.

He repressed a groan and played with the moss agate in his pants pocket, rubbing the even surface and tracing the imperfect edges. It helped him think. Turning his head from the clouds, he gazed into the deep forest, waiting for Kiba, Hinata, Shino, or Kurenai-sensei to emerge. Tsunade had informed him that they were the ones with the mission to accompany Naruto.

Then he picked up noise. Laughter and chattering that became louder and louder and made Shikamaru’s heart beat quicker from excitement. He didn’t scold himself for it. Not only because he was maybe going to meet the woman who he is going to spend the rest of his life with (which was a more than legitimate reason to be nervous), but also because he was too focused on the sounds. He rubbed the gem in his pocket feverously. Shikamaru could here them. Loud voices. One was Kiba’s and the other – the green stone was flipping fluently through his fingers – the other he didn’t recognize.

“I’m telling you Hinata-chan! You _have_ to visit me. If not, I’ll come myself. You are my new best friend after all!” The voice wasn’t particularly high or girly, it was… oddly scratchy.

“What?! I thought we were best friends Naruto-chan!” Kiba, he recognized.

“She is my best _girl_ friend, Kiba! Also, I don’t see you being near as cute as Hinata-chan is.”

Shikamaru wished they would already come out or go away all together. He feared the gem in his fist would crack.

Then, he could spot the first ones emerging through thick woods. Kurenai-sensei first, and behind her Kiba and – Naruto. Shikamaru immediately knew that it was her, even if another person would have come claiming to be her, he knew it was _that_ girl right behind Kiba and next to Hinata that was Naruto.

He never put any real effort in envisioning her before. Why should he? She wouldn’t end up looking the way he’d imagined anyway. But seeing her, it was clear that this had to be her. The blonde hair that reminded him of the daffodils that now stood in her new room and gleaming blue eyes were the first features he noticed. They were almost a mirror of how he’d described her character to Inoichi. ‘ _Energetic, impulsive, optimistic, friendly…’_ she was finally near enough for him to see a bright grin on her face. ‘ _Foxy_ ’.

“Heyya Shikamaru! What are you waiting for?” It was Kiba who was talking but the Nara couldn’t tear his eyes of the blonde girl behind him. Said girl’s grin morphed into a toothy smile that threatened to split her face into two.

“Shikamaru!” she called in that loud, scratchy voice of hers, her tone cheery, as if she had met a good friend after a longer time. It was then when Shikamaru remembered certain lines of her letter that didn’t seem important when he first read it but now made him realize what they really meant.

_I thought, if I had already established some sort of contact with you, you’d at least know what to expect._

Yes, it almost felt like he knew Naruto a little. Their first encounter had already been made through that letter and it irked him that she had thought of possibilities beyond him by writing it in the first place. Shikamaru wouldn’t even entertain the ideas that she had gone through.

He steadily looked into her cobalt blue eyes. He couldn’t help himself. He smiled. Only a little and faint in comparison to hers, but it was there.

Although he’d thought he knew how he would react when he was faced with Naruto, reality was the complete opposite, because Naruto herself had reacted in a way he hadn’t calculated. She was a riddle that he still hadn’t solved. As if she was challenging him.

 _The games are on, Naruto_.

“Huh, Naruto-chan? You know the Nara? I thought it was your first time coming to Konoha”, Kiba interrupted his train of thought. Luckily, Kurenai butted in before Shikamaru and Naruto were forced to elaborate on the whole matter. “Let’s go guys. We have to report to Hokage-sama.” She ignored her former student’s indignant spluttering and nodded to Shikamaru once, acknowledging him. Apparently she had more information on her mission than her chunins. Then she turned to Naruto, smiling friendly at her. “We’ll see you in the village.”

Naruto’s own smile didn’t falter. “You bet we are! Especially you and me Hinata-chan, we will see each other much more often.” The Hyuuga girl’s features were shy but genuinely happy, and after nodding once, she followed her teammates in the direction of the Hokage-tower.

“So”, the blonde girl turned to look at him “it’s only the two of us now?”

He beckoned his head, a rare grin on his face. “Let’s go.”

_Just you wait Naruto Uzumaki. There isn’t a puzzle I haven’t been able to crack._

_._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any questions, thoughts, things you didn't understand? Go ahead and ask!


	5. 5

“And I was like, Grammy, calm down, I don’t need escort or anything like that! Does she think I’m a wuss?” Naruto’s hands were raised, gesturing wildly. “But then she wrote me that I could forget ever getting out of Uzu if not some of her own ninjas were supervising me. So, having no choice, I waited for them. I was a bit angry I guess, but then I saw Hinata-chan, and you can’t possibly be mean to her, can you?” Her face which was conveying anger only seconds ago morphed into expressions of empathy and adornment. She was someone that reacted instinctively. Not thinking too long about what she was going to say, she simply voiced it straightforwardly.

That was what irked Shikamaru about her. Watching her face he noticed that she simply displayed her emotions for everyone to see. Naruto didn’t try to be mysterious or broody. So how could she be so interesting when she didn’t even try to be a riddle in the first place?

Tired from pondering too much, he leaned his head back and watched the ceiling. Currently, he, his parents and Naruto were sitting on the sofas in the living room where a simple “How was your journey” wasn’t answered by a quick “Fine” but rather with a long, adventure-filled tale. Shikamaru turned to watch his mother. Yoshino and Naruto were the ones leading the conversation, as they were the more talkative people in the room.

His mother looked like she had cracked the jackpot. Shikamaru knew that she was incredibly relieved about how Naruto turned out to be, as she had been fretting over that topic since some time now. Although Yoshino emphasized that the only thing she prayed for, concerning her daughter-in-law, was her hopefully not being a lazy ass like certain other individuals, it was obvious that she was glad about how Naruto presented herself. Till now, she seemed friendly, honest, active, and funny, which only helped to put her into his parent’s good books. Not that Naruto was planning that. Her straightforwardness shouldn’t allow her to try to act differently in order to make others like her.

“Naruto-chan” his mother called in an unusually sweet tone “You must be exhausted from your trip. Why don’t you let me show you your room so that you can get a shower while I make the last preparations for food?” The girl’s eyes went huge in the prospect of food, as she stood up to follow Yoshino in the direction of her new room, their voices getting lower as they retreated but still loud enough for the men to hear.

Sighing he sagged further into his seat as he felt his muscles unwind and relax. He was relieved. This ‘first meeting’ hadn’t been as awkward as he thought it would be because Naruto unknowingly didn’t allow it to go into that direction. She was uncomplicated in a way that made her easy to be around with, but complicated in a whole another way that kept Shikamaru interested.

He turned to look at his father, whose facial features seemed to mirror the relief Shikamaru was experiencing. In the middle of this tricky situation, the young Nara hadn’t been attentive enough to notice his parents worrying about it, as well.

“Wow, this looks great! How did you – did you know that orange is my favorite color, or is this coincidental?” He grew alert as he listened to Naruto’s loud voice.

“Oh it was Shikamaru’s idea. He even painted the room himself.”

“Really? How did he-“ _Please don’t talk about_ \- “Ah, it must be because of that letter I sent!” Shikamaru suppressed the urge to groan and kept a stoic façade. He could literally feel his father’s smug look fixating him from where he was sitting. His parents were never going to let this die down because ‘letter from your fiancé’ sounded simply too close to ‘love letter’ - which it hadn’t been.

“And he painted it himself? That’s really sweet.” Shikamaru played with the gem in his pocket, trying to overcome his uneasiness. He couldn’t think of the last time his actions had been referred to as ‘sweet’.

“Yes, my son tends to be like that, very committed.” His father snorted and tried to smother his laughter. Shikamaru rolled his eyes. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been called ‘commited’ either. Probably never.

“Oh you even bothered with flowers! They are so pretty!”

“Shikamaru will be happy to hear that you like them. He insisted on buying them personally.” Okay, this was simply getting ridiculous. His mother was almost acting like she was trying to set them up, which was pointless, considering they were already, you know, engaged.

“Really? That’s so thoughtful.” Naruto sounded amazed.

“Yes, he is quite the gentleman.”

It was then, when his father couldn’t hold his laughter anymore. Shikamaru tuned him and the female voices out.

.

When Naruto emerged from the shower his mother had set the table. Shikamaru couldn’t help analyzing every single one of her actions. They were going to live together after all, might as well get to know something about his future wife.

Her absence had only lasted for about half an hour. Considering that her hair was very long, reaching her waist, it should take longer to wash. Still she didn’t take long in the bathroom and probably didn’t fret over what to wear or else more time would have passed. Presumably, she didn’t give much thought to how she appeared like someone like Ino would. The rest of her appearance only confirmed that. No makeup, no jewelry and no unnecessary complicated clothing. Instead, she seemed like a more practically oriented person. When she had arrived, the clothes she wore weren’t aiming to set a fashion statement but rather to travel and – if necessary – fight efficiently. Even now the dress she changed into was simple, loose, comfortable but - Shikamaru could acknowledge that – pretty.

The only fact that didn’t quite fit into the equation was the long hair which was now flowing down her back. It wasn’t practical, got in the way in a fight and was generally more troublesome to handle and care for. His mother seemed to be focused on it, too.

“Naruto-chan, your hair looks so beautiful. Was it always this long?”

They had sat at the dinner table. Naruto smiled.

“Nah. It was really short when I was little, not even reached my shoulders because I thought it was too annoying to handle. But then –“

Shikamaru hoped that whatever persuaded her to grow the hair out was _vanity_. That was what others would do. A boy saying her that long hair was pretty, the hairdresser claiming that the look suit her, something like that.

“I went travelling and kind of forgot to let it cut. After some time my sensei told me that I resembled my mother more with longer hair.” She shrugged, apparently slightly embarrassed “Since then I keep it long, although it’s hard to handle.”

 _Of course,_ it had to such an explanation. He refrained from groaning. Why couldn’t Naruto Uzumaki be predictable _once_?

His mother however looked like she discovered a halo on top of Naruto’s head.

.

The next day he woke up to laughter. Blearily he lied in his bed and listened to the chattering of his mom’s and another girl’s the voice. Her voice was scratchy, he noticed, and then remembered, _Naruto_. Enjoying the peaceful, sunny morning he drifted in and out of sleep until he woke up by a gentle hand on his arm. It wasn’t hasty like his mother’s or big like his father’s hand. Shikamaru opened his eyes only to be met with _blue_.

“Come on sleepyhead! I’m going to the village with or without you, but if I get lost it will be _your_ fault!” She laughed, sent him a last look and exited the room. Weird, to interact with her in such an intimate atmosphere. He distantly remembered promising her to show her around the village yesterday.

Tiredly, he stretched himself and changed into his usual attire in order to go into the dining area. Yoshino and Naruto were still talking lively which made Shikamaru question where they pulled out all these topics of conversation. However, maybe his mother will be in a better mood more often from now on, which would make his life much easier. Or she would at least start sending Naruto to wake him up on a regular basis. A gentle hand was surly more appreciated than his mom’s shouting.

When he arrived, he noticed that his father was missing. “He was called to an early council meeting.” His mother commented on his questioning.

After they had breakfast together (with freshly-pressed-Naruto-Uzumaki-orange-juice, as the blonde girl insisted on repeating) they cleaned up. It was one of the rare times he got away with moving deliberately slow in order to tidy up as little as possible, since his mother’s hawk eyes were focused on her future daughter-in-law who was telling some story again.

“Come on, Shikamaru!” She grabbed his shoulder, the wide smile ever present on her face. “Show me Konoha!”

He sighed. “Everything?”

She laughed. “And more.”

He turned to his mother. “We’ll be returning late.”

Then he went about playing guide in the centre of Konoha. Fortunately, Naruto adapted to his lazy stride as they walked through the main street.

He scratched his head. “You should’ve taken my mom with you. She could have shown you better around than I.”

Naruto grinned knowingly. “Don’t try to sell yourself short. You’re making a good job.”

Shikamaru raised a brow. “Really?”

She nodded, a serene look on her face. “How couldn’t you? It’s your home.”

.

For the tour Shikamaru guessed that it was the best idea to first show the girl the most important place of the village. “That’s the Hokage tower. You’ll mostly need to go there when the Hokage asks for you or you simply want to get assigned for a mission. After the mission you go report there and receive your pay check.” Naruto stared openly at it. It reminded Shikamaru of a question he was planning to ask. “Do you know Hokage-sama? She always seemed to be informed of what you’re currently doing.”

She turned her look from the tower to him. “I’ve only met her personally once. I don’t know how she’s now, but when sensei and I encountered her she was a goner. Gambling all of her money when she wasn’t drinking it.” She shrugged. “And then she went and became Hokage.”

Shikamaru grinned. “Yeah, embarrassing life story.”

“Really?” She looked pensive, and then, as if determining something. “I don’t think so. It makes you believe that no matter how much of a bum you are, you can become big.”

He couldn’t help but laugh silently. “Don’t let her hear that you called her a bum.”

.

After the Hokage-tower, Shikamaru quickly calculated how to show Naruto the village in a way that would exert him as little as possible. As soon as he made a plan, he first took her to the market place, then the shopping district, and even (on Naruto’s insistence) to red light district. It felt awkward to go to that place at stark, sunny daylight but the blonde girl seemed impressed.

“Why so interested?”

She huffed. “In Uzu there is nothing.” Then she rolled her eyes. “Not even a red light district.”

He chuckled. “That’s Uzu’s loss.” He went into the other direction. “Do you want to see the training grounds?” In response she turned around quickly that her blue dress swayed in the wind. “Are you kidding? Of course I want to!”

He started walking with the blonde girl following close to him. As soon as they entered the main street where more people where walking, he noticed the villagers turning around to look at them when they thought he wasn’t watching. Sometimes they didn’t even try to be subtle and just blatantly stared at them. It had been like that all day. Obviously, the reason for that could only be the Uzumaki walking next to him. Shikamaru didn’t suspect that the villagers really knew who she was yet, although it shouldn’t be hard to deduct. Soon enough word would get out.

He turned to look at Naruto who either didn’t notice the people’s stares, masked her feelings well, or was so used to the looks that she didn’t spare a thought on it. Shikamaru believed it to be the last, since he could imagine her being stared at most of the time. When he had told Choji that he believed that Naruto stood out from the crowd, he had referred to her behaviorisms. But he had come to realize that not only her personality but also her looks made her stand out like a sore thumb. Not only did she have blonde hair, blue eyes and tan skin, which was rare to find in Konoha, but also her hair was _blonder_ , her eyes _bluer_ , her tan more _bronzy_ than anyone he had seen here before. She was more _intense_ in every aspect of her appearance.

“Those are the training grounds?” He was pulled from his thoughts only to realize that they had already arrived at their destination. He nodded. “That’s number one. But there are over fifty in total.” Her eyes widened. “Are they all that big?” He shrugged. “Or bigger. They mainly differ in their environment. Some are rocky, others are surrounded by a sea and others are in the middle of the woods. That way you can not only practice with different material but also train for different scenarios.”

Awed, the blonde started walking the path as he followed her to watch the familiar training grounds. Then they passed a field where people were practicing.

“That’s it, my youthful students! Embrace your inner fire! Well done Neji , I see improvement in your speed!”

Shikamaru could have groaned. There was no more troublesome ‘team’ than the one of Maito Gai. Tenten and Neji were alright, but Gai and Lee were too annoying to handle. It wasn’t surprising that they were training together since the two younger males kept their rivalry concerning taijutsu up even though they weren’t genins anymore, which was probably the reason they were sparring again.

“Hey, who-“

With a speed that Shikamaru normally only used during missions, he pressed his palm on Naruto’s lower part of her face to keep her from talking. Even if Gai and Lee were currently shouting, Naruto could be loud enough to be heard, too, and the last thing he wanted now was the attention of those two lunatics. That’s why he pulled the blonde girl towards him so her back was pressed against his chest. He lowered his mouth to reach her ear and whispered. “Be quiet, alright?”

Her hair smelt slightly of strawberries, he noticed as he felt her face warm up. She nodded slightly. So he pulled his hand away again and allowed her to turn her face around. He beckoned his head and grabbed her wrist to steer her away from the training grounds. Once they were safe, he let her go.

She watched him with big eyes, the bright blue unnerving him. He grew a little uneasy and seized into his pants pocket to play with the gem in it.

“Are you hungry?” She should be. The day was slowly coming to an end and their last meal had been the breakfast they had at home. She smiled and Shikamaru relaxed as her expressions became familiar again.

“Can I choose?”

“I guess. After all I am a _gentleman_ ”, he answered wryly when remembering his mother’s words from yesterday.

She laughed loudly. “Did you really insist on buying the flowers personally?”

He shrugged, grin never fading. “’Insist’ is a strong word.”

.

They ended up in a place called ‘Ramen Ichiraku’. Shikamaru didn’t know it very well apart from the fact that they apparently made the best ramen in Konoha, which was what Naruto insisted on eating.

“Hey, Shikamaru?” He turned to face the blonde who was slurping her noodles down. “Who are the guys on the rocks?”

He raised his brows. “It’s the Hokage-monument. The faces are those of the Hokages. The one on the left is the Shodaime, next to him is the Nidaime, Sandaime, Yondaime, and at the very right is the Godaime.”

Her eyes widened and fixated him. “Can we go there?”

“You mean on top of it?”

She nodded vigorously. He stood up, stretched himself and paid the bill. “Then hurry up.”

That’s how they eventually ended up on the monument. It had been a good idea, after all, he thought, as he finally laid down to watch the vanishing clouds. Naruto sat next to him, looking awed in front of the scenery that she was faced with. Shikamaru could understand her reaction, as you could see the whole village from this spot that was currently wrapped in orange light that shone from the sinking sun.

“And?” he inquired “What’s better? Konoha or Uzu?”

She snorted. “Is that a joke?” Rolling her eyes, she tore her gaze from the scenery to face him. “Konoha, of course.”

He raised his brows.

“You never were in Uzu, were you?” She didn’t let him answer. “Of course, you weren’t, I would have seen you, because Uzu is just so damn small.” She sighed exasperatedly. “Do you know anything about it?”

He shook his head. “Not really.”

“Which isn’t really surprising.” Her tone sounded slightly bitter. She scrunched up her brows. “The old people in Uzu sometimes tell how it used be such a cool ninja village and everything, but now…“ She exhaled, preparing for a story “Things apparently went downhill in the Ninja War. Many other countries were scared of the Uzumaki clan, those who basically run the village.” She shrugged, turning away from him. “I think because of the clan’s traits and the Fuinjutsu, you know? We were good at it. But the others weren’t. They still aren’t. That’s why they’re scared.” It was the first time Shikamaru could spot anger, no, fury in her face. “We – the clan - weren’t many to begin with and after they were… killed, it didn’t take long to rough the whole village up.”

She lay down next to him, eyes fixed on the darkening sky. “After that, the village never really recovered. There are no ninjas or anything, just a couple of people living together I guess.”

Shikamaru was interested. They had never learnt anything about Uzushiogakure at the Academy and he had been too lazy to look something up in the library. A question formed in his head. “Isn’t that dangerous? When there are no ninjas, there is no one who protects the village. Is Uzu prosperous enough to pay for the service from ninjas of foreign countries?”

She snorted. “Prosperous? Not near that. The people are mostly farmers and fishers, they have enough to live, but not much more.” She seemed to sadden while speaking those words. “We get protection through Konoha nins.”

Shikamaru was surprised. “Konoha?”

She nodded, still not looking at him. “Yes. Apparently, Konoha and Uzu always had a friendly relationship, especially at the past. And…” He noticed a blush riding up her face as she embarrassedly scratched her head and sent him an unusually shy look. “I am not the first Uzumaki girl to come here and...” she shrugged “and, you know… marry.”

He understood a little better now. Maybe the villages had close ties because women of the one influential clan in Uzu were married to prestigious shinobi in Konoha. But something was missing in the equation. It was an enormous expenditure to assign ninjas the long term mission to protect a village that doesn’t even belong to the land of fire. However, he was hesitative of asking Naruto. He didn’t quite trust her and he knew that she didn’t trust him, neither. She wouldn’t just spill every secret she has just because he asked nicely.

“Bottom line” she said after a longer silence “Uzu is now more of a rundown place with nothing really happening there. The two years I got away to travel were the best of my life. Not because I _hate_ my home, it’s just-“ she turned to look him in the eyes, holding his gaze “The people there. They are _existing_ , not really _living_. No dreams, no aspirations; it make me crazy. Do you know what I mean?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “But when I got out of there, I _lived_. I want to live, Shikamaru.” There was a tint of desperation in her voice. “But they won’t let me out of there. Never. Only that one time with Jiraiya-sensei, and even then he kept a close eye on me, _supervising_ me.”

Finally, realization hit him. “That’s why you came here without making a fuss. The alternative was staying there forever.”

She grinned apologetically. “Oh, I made a fuss, especially when I was younger. It’s not like they kept this whole” she gestured clumsily with her hands “ _arrangement_ a secret. I planned on walking away of Uzu, I even tried it a couple of times. But even after I started training…” She scrunched up her brows.

Shikamaru predicted the content of the next words. “Those ninjas weren’t only there to protect Uzu, but also to make sure that you didn’t escape, right?”

She nodded. “And they were strong bastards. And smart. Never lasted long till they found me.”

The uneasiness in Shikamaru grew. Something didn’t add up. Why go so such measures to prevent her from escaping? What made her so special to Konoha? Even if she was so strong, her strength couldn’t be too overpowering, since she never managed to even get out of that village for a long time. The one thing that differentiated her from many others were probably her Fuinjutsu skills. He didn’t know hoe progressed she was in that area, but Naruto’s words had suggested that her clan had a natural talent with it. Surly it made her desirable as seal masters were extremely rare, but so desirable enough to make such a fuss? Something didn’t quite add up, but he leaved it be for now. He moved his hand to play with the gem in his pocket.

“And now?” he asked carefully.

“Now I want to become a kunoichi. Then I have the possibility to get out, to get to choose between many possibilities. Not only for missions. I was promised that I wouldn’t get guarded anymore if I kept my part of the deal. And _they_ kept it, already. The moment I passed these gates, no one was following me around, anymore.”

Shikamaru asked himself whether they would let her go off the leash so easily. Logically, they shouldn’t, since there was no guarantee that Naruto would keep on fulfilling her part of the deal. The moment she was assigned a mission as a shinobi, she could decide to sneak off and never return again. Granted, that would make her to a nukenin, but maybe she would consider her ultimate liberty worth that price.

He groaned. So complicated. “You couldn’t just be average, could you?”

She watched him confusedly. “All I wanted was a mediocre wife with average skills, average personality, and even average looks-“

“You think I’m ugly?” she shouted indignantly.

“No”, he huffed “You didn’t even have the decency to be that. You _had_ to be beautiful, hadn’t you? “ And she was beautiful, he realized. Even more so with the blush in her face that was getting redder as moments passed by, till she broke his gaze to watch the almost completely vanished sun. He turned his eyes into the same direction

“Sometimes I think God’s playing a little game with me”, he sighed. “That he sent you to mock me. To give me a lesson that I’m not as clever as I thought.”

She didn’t make a motion. “You’re so weird; I don’t get it.”

He stretched himself and tiredly stood up. “Come on, it’s late. We should get home.”

He stretched his arm out, hand inviting her to help her to stand up. She grasped it.

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feelings? Thoughts? Share!


	6. 6

When they returned that evening to the Nara estate, Naruto was exceptionally quiet. It wasn’t uncomfortable, though, as – for Shikamaru – Naruto wasn’t that much of a stranger anymore. Their relationship had developed to a point where he didn’t feel the need to avoid an awkward silence.

Back at home, his father was sitting on the floor of the living room, watching his Shogi board pensively.

“Hey”, greeted Shikamaru

His father turned to look at them, a friendly smile spreading on his face. “Welcome. How was your day?”

At that, Naruto seemed to gain her usual energy back. “Great! Konoha is amazing.”

“I’m happy to hear that.” He motioned on the other side of the board. “Do you know how to play Shogi, Naruto-chan?” The ‘-chan’ had been added, since Naruto had refused a ‘-san’, claiming it was too formal and set a too heavy atmosphere for someone like her. Shikamaru had yet to call her with that honorific, as he felt uncomfortable using it. That would sound like she is his girlfriend or something. Granted, she was his fiancé already, which destroyed the basis of his argumentation, but he conveniently skipped that part.

“No I never tried, because it looked like it needed a lot of patience. I’m not very good at that.” Shikaku laughed. “I’ll explain the rules, then.”

She made a face at that. “I’m not very good at comprehending and applying them.” Of course. She was someone who learnt in a more practical way and needed hands-on experience. “I’ll show you.” She turned to look at him with her big eyes. “Us against my father.”

She smiled.

He conveniently skipped the part he referred to Naruto and him as ‘us’.

Playing together with Naruto was oddly… fun. Which was unusual in itself, as Shogi often was entertaining but never really funny. However, the strategies (if they could be called that) that she proposed once she understood how the game worked, were almost comical. Naruto hadn’t been exaggerating when she stated that she didn’t have the patience to play Shogi, as she made too brash decisions. Her moves were hasty and risky. It didn’t take long for her to want to start sacrificing most of the players they had just because she was getting bored of the status quo on the board. As a result, they lost every time, but he still felt oddly satisfied when he looked at how she scratched the back of her head at having lost again.

.

He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder that made him open his eyes.

“Hey Shikamaru, are you sure you want to come with me? I really memorized the way to the tower.” Naruto’s voice sounded even scratchier than usual, he noted hazily. It couldn’t be too long since she woke up herself.

“Shikamaru!” He was dozing off again. It was early and he was very tempted to simply stay in bed and keep on sleeping but he had been the one to suggest accompanying her in the first place. Yesterday evening, in between the many Shogi games his father had told Naruto that the Hokage would be expecting her today at 7am. As he had been curious about what the Godaime would talk about with the girl, he had wanted to go with her under the pretense of making sure she didn’t get lost in Konoha. Although Naruto assured him that she could find the tower on her own, she couldn’t be too adamant about that, since it didn’t take long for him to convince her. Now she gave him a way out again, and he was tempted to grasp this chance, but damn – his curiosity was nagging at the back of his mind. He wouldn’t have a restful sleep anyway.

“I’ll come. Just…” he felt the compelling need to close his eyes “five minutes”, he slurred quietly. There was giggle. He opened on eye. “What is it?”

She approached even further and sat on the side of the bed which he wasn’t occupying and shrugged. “What?” he inquired, but she only shrugged and giggled again. “It’s nothing, really.” Shikamaru rolled his eyes. “Just say it, so that I can enjoy the next five minutes dozing, instead of pondering what you meant”, he mumbled grumpily while snuggling into his pillow. The smile never faded from her face.

“You’re cute when you’re sleepy.”

The next five minutes where spent wide awake. When Naruto exited the room to let him change into his clothes, he trusted her not to tell his mother about this effective way of getting him out of bed.

.

When they had arrived at the Hokage tower, they were forced to wait ten minutes before they could finally enter her office. Of course, Tsunade could decide that whatever she wanted to talk about with Naruto was private and thus, send him on the floor to wait. That would mean that waking up earlier had been for naught, but he was willing to take that risk.

When they eventually entered her office, Tsunade lifted her head only for a surprised look to take over her face. “Naruto-chan.” Her smile was oddly soft.

“Tsunade!” The happiness over seeing a familiar face in Konoha was apparent in the girl’s greeting. “Wow, all that paperwork is not set up? You’re actually working? Is this real?” Her inquiring was shockingly rude and Shikamaru had never heard talking anyone that way with the Hokage. Naruto Uzumaki surly was surprising but he began to think that she had a death wish, as well. But the older woman only sighed exasperatedly.

“What about your boobs? Are _they_ real?”

He nervously searched for the gem in his pocket and started to distract himself because Naruto’s breast was something he definitely _not_ wanted to think about. Normally, Shikamaru wasn’t someone to blush over female anatomy because he could distance himself from situations quite efficiently. That meant that a woman’s breasts were just a part of her body like her arms or feet, thus, not worth getting excited over. But it was the knowledge of Naruto becoming his wife in the future, and the inevitability of – He couldn’t even end that trail of thought. Irritated about his own reaction, he fisted the moss agate in a tight grasp. Damn it, he was no prepubescent kid and the knowledge of having sex (there, he said it) in the future with the girl standing next to him, shouldn’t embarrass him as much as it did. Although he tried avoiding his eyes, he could spot the blonde girl blushing and bristling at the same time.

“What kind of dumb question is that?!”

The Godaime seemed to suppress a chuckle but her amusement was obvious. “Well, the last time we met – how old were you? Twelve? Thirteen? _I_ wasn’t working and, _those two_ ” she pointed in Naruto’s general direction, which Shikamaru refused to inspect “were nowhere to be seen. I guess things change, huh?”

While Naruto embarrassedly tried to retort, Tsunade started to laugh like she was having the time of her life. “Ah, teenagers… So easy to rile up.” At that moment she briefly glanced over to him. Shikamaru had no doubt that she blatantly saw through his stoic façade.

Then, she mercifully changed the topic from his fiancé’s body to his presence.

“Playing guide, Shikamaru?”

Before he could open his mouth to attempt to answer, Naruto was already talking. She seemed to have recovered from her earlier state of stuttering quite quickly. “Nah, that was yesterday, Tsunade. Today, Shikamaru wanted to make sure I don’t get lost, although I totally memorized everything by now.” The Hokage lifted one perfect brow. “Is that so?” Her tone was heavily laced with sarcasm. “My, Shikamaru - helping ladies in need? What a gentleman.”

This time, Shikamaru grinned. “As always.”

Tsunade rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Just sit down you brats.” She tiredly sagged into her seat and stretched herself. “And? How is everything going?”

Naruto shrugged. “Great. Konoha is cool. And really big.” Normally it seemed that it was a hard feat for her to sit still, but it was apparent that it was an even bigger effort now. She jiggled her feet up and down, crossed and uncrossed them, laced her hands together, only to fix a strain of her hair in the next moment. Her gaze was expectant, as if asking ‘what now?’.

“Next week”, Tsunade said after a longer silence, getting straight to the point.

“What ‘next week’?” Naruto inquired.

“You know how people officially become ninjas, right? Normally, when they want to become shinobi, they first visit the Academy. After graduating, they will be put into teams that will be tested by Jonins who eventually determine whether the graduates get to become Genins.” Tsunade eyed the other blonde critically from her feet till her head. “Obviously, I won’t put you into a class with some children. That would be a waste of time. So I’ll assign you to a Jonin sensei who will determine whether you get to become a Konoha shinobi.”

Naruto’s features became focused, the smile that was adorning her face only moments ago had vanished. “Will I be tested in a team or singly?”

Tsunade shrugged. “Both is possible but that will probably be deterred by the Jonin running the test.”

Shikamaru choose that moment to interrupt. “And have you already chosen the one who will be testing her?” If she said a name, it wouldn’t be much of a help for Naruto, but it was highly possible that Shikamaru knew something about the person. Maybe he could give her some instructions for her test.

The Hokage narrowed her eyes. “I have someone in mind. But I’ll have to speak with him about it first. Anyway, I’ll inform you about the exact time and place later on.”

.

When Shikamaru and Naruto finally returned home, he could recognize an annoyingly familiar voice. Previous thoughts of going back to sleep having been given up upon, he paused in his tracks to inhale deeply. The blonde girl stopped little after that and blinked at him confusedly.

He shook his head. “Nothing. Brace yourself.”Her addled expression not fading, she resumed to walking with Shikamaru following her closely.

And, of course, he had to be right, because that annoyingly high voice could only belong to Ino Yamanaka. Said girl sprang up as soon as she spotted them and started tapping her foot up and down in a universal gesture of impatience and irritation.

“I can’t believe you lied to me, Shikamaru!” were her first words. “Next week. You said _next week on Tuesday_. “

Bored and annoyed, because he didn’t get nearly enough sleep to deal with his former teammate, he answered. “I didn’t say anything. I only asked you whether you knew who was on patrol at that day.”

Ino seemed to become even angrier at that. “It is the same! You did that on purpose to give of the impression that she would arrive at a later date than she actually did.”

He merely rolled his eyes. “Of course, I did that. Can’t believe you fell for it, though. Not as observant as you’d like to be.”

The girl opened her mouth to give a probably very loud retort on his comment, only to be beat by the other girl who he had almost forgot was standing next to him.

“Hey, I’m Naruto.”

Ino confusedly closed her mouth to look at his fiancé.

“I’m Ino”, she retorted, curiously mustering the other blonde girl up and down. “Shikamaru and I used to be teammates while we were Genins.”

Naruto’s familiar toothy smile spread over her face. “Really? Tell me some gossip over breakfast.”

.

During breakfast that Shikamaru and Naruto only had now, as they didn’t eat anything before leaving the house earlier, Ino was invited. Luckily, the girl ignored him for the most part for the sake of giving the other blonde all the information she had on him.

“I’m telling you, Naruto-chan”, she voiced after swallowing a piece of egg “Your fiancé is just about the laziest guy in Konoha.”

Naruto’s eyes grew big. “What, really?”

Ino opened her mouth confusedly. “Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed? Please, Naruto-“ she pointed at his direction “look at this guy. Even the way he’s sitting and eating is lazy.”

Naruto mustered him as if searching for the features Ino had described. Her stare made him slightly uneasy and he casually dropped his hand to search for the gem in his pants pocket. “I don’t know”, she finally retorted. “I mean, I’m not here since a long time and of course you should know him better, but Shikamaru seemed” she paused to search for the right word “attentive, helpful and… even dedicated.” Shikamaru played with the moss agate while ignoring the uncomfortable feeling of being talked about while being in the same room.

“Either,” Ino began, one brow raised “you, Naruto, are just an incredible airhead, or” her gaze wandered to him “you have spoken some magic spell that makes Shikamaru do crazy things.”

It was then, when he realized that he was indeed acting vastly different from how he usually would. Naruto didn’t arrive long ago, but he had already spent more time with her than without her in that period, sleep included.

“I’ll go wash my hands.” He needed to get away. Slowly, he walked out of the dining room and washed his hands in the bathroom as lazily as possible in the hopes of the girls being finished with their conversation by the time he was back. But when he approached the dining area again, he was disappointed. Ino was still talking.

“… really intelligent.”

“Yeah, I didn’t used to know much about him, but the one thing I was told, was that he was smart. His father’s is also like that, I noticed.” Naruto.

“That’s classically Nara. These guys are almost notorious for their intelligence. That bastard could always set up the best strategies while on missions.”

Shikamaru resumed to waiting on the floor, refusing to enter the room. He’d rather wait for this talk to end.

“But you know what” Ino’s voice took a softer tint “those strategies he forms have the goal to reach the maximal satisfaction rate. Not for him, but for all. He wouldn’t show it, but he is selfless and caring like that.”

Before Naruto could retort, he deliberately made much noise to alert them of his presence. Then, as if not having heard their exchange, he nonchalantly sat on his chair.

“So Naruto-chan”, Ino changed the topic effortlessly “You have to meet the others, too.”

“Others?” the blonde girl inquired

“Yeah, the rest of Team Ten, for starters. Although, we technically aren’t a team anymore, but we still meet regularly for barbecue. They’ll be excited to see you.”

A happy smile spread over her face and she turned to him. “Shikamaru?”

Momentarily, he was confused. It was almost as if she was asking for his permission. “Yeah, of course.” Her smile grew wider and bemused him even further. While Ino and Naruto kept on talking and making plans, he tried to understand her behavior, but no amount of analyzing gave him an answer. It was absurd. Why would she ask him? He wasn’t one to give orders, and she wasn’t one to accept them.

“Oh, it’s gotten late” the ash blonde girl exclaimed “I’ve promised my mother to take over the shop. I have to go!”

For the sake of being polite Shikamaru accompanied the girls to the gates of the compound.

“Naruto-chan!” It was his mother who was screaming at the top of her lungs from the garden. “Come, I want to show you something!”

“Yes, I’m coming!” Naruto shouted back, only to turn around and smile one last time at Ino. “It was great talking with you, we’ll see each other next week!”

She ran off quickly in the direction of Yoshino while Shikamaru resumed to walking with his former teammate to the gates.

“So” Ino began “Quite a catch you’ve got there.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to try to set me up with her”, he retorted when remembering what she had told Naruto, when they thought he wasn’t listening.

She only raised a brow. “So you eavesdropped, huh? What are you grumpy about? I wanted her to have a good impression of you.”

“It doesn’t matter.” He paused. They had reached the gates. “You and my mother don’t have to play matchmaker. We are already engaged. That makes this whole endeavor pointless.”

She bristled and put her hands to her hips. “We were only trying to help, you know? Your mother and me could fill endless conversations about your negative habits, but we go through the effort about making you seem as appealing as possible.”

He kept his nonchalant attitude. “Why does it matter? It’s unimportant whether she likes me or not. The marriage will happen regardless of how we feel about each other.”

Ino’s apparent irritation grew into anger laced with pity. “The more she likes you, the better your whole relationship will work out. We are only thinking of your happiness, Shikamaru, but-“ she ran a hand through her hair “You can be a real prick. I’m genuinely starting to feel sorry for Naruto-chan. You better talk with her.”

“About what?”

She lowered her voice, glancing over to Naruto’s direction. “Do you remember when you both returned this morning and I started ranting at you?”

He rolled his eyes. “What does that matter?”

She ignored his retort and resumed to talking unperturbedly. “Then she suddenly butted into the conversation by introducing herself.” He couldn’t see what her point was. “She did that to take attention off you, to push you out of the line of the fire.”

He scrunched up his brows. “You’re being ridiculous. There was no fire to speak of. You’re as always, exaggerating, Ino.”

But instead of bristling, she shrugged and grinned. “Well, there are things that only a woman can see, I guess.”

He rolled his eyes again. “Alright. Tell me, why would she do that?”

She shrugged again. “Why don’t you ask her?”

Then, she turned to look in the direction of the main street. “I’ve got to go. My mom will kill me.”

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter six is done! What did you think of it?


	7. 7

A week passed and everyone fell into a routine. Naruto dissolved her presence of being someone akin to a guest to someone who was part of the Nara household. Every morning, his mother would send Naruto to wake him up, as the girl never slept in as long as he did. She never said that he was ‘cute’ again, though, for which he was grateful. Then they’d have breakfast, when his mother luckily didn’t bug him as much as she used to, as she was busy chattering with Naruto. After that, he lazed around. He knew that Tsunade gave him a break with the missions since she wanted him and his fiancé to get used to their new situation. Meanwhile, the blonde girl started working on her seals and went out to explore Konoha further; sometimes he accompanied her, sometimes he didn’t. He quickly found out that she needed no babysitting and didn’t require someone to show her around the whole day. Shikamaru caught himself thinking that if their marriage would be similar to their current situation, he could probably bear with it. This whole thing turned out to be not nearly as troublesome as he’d predicted it to be.

One evening, Naruto didn’t return when her usual time came around. Concerned, his mother watched the clock. “Maybe, she didn’t notice how time has passed.”

“That’s likely”, his father retorted. “She seems to be tuning everything else out when she is working with the seals.” Shikamaru rolled his eyes. “It’s not like her to be focused.”

Shikaku’s gaze narrowed on him. “Do you know why seal masters are so rare, Shikamaru?” The Nara heir shrugged. “Fuinjutsu is difficult. No one wants to go through the trouble.”

His father nodded. “The most people who work with seals are only copying them. And even that is hard.” Shikamaru raised his brows.”Copying is hard?”

“One false ink brush could have fatal outcomes. The fear of possible mistakes – which is legitimate, as they very often happen – scares many shinobi away from dealing with Fuinjutsu. Naruto however,” he turned his head to watch the ceiling “Well, I haven’t seen it myself, of course, but she is supposed to have surpassed copying long ago. Apparently she is already creating her own ones.”

Shikamaru sighed and stretched himself.”That’s why she is working in the woods. She doesn’t need the space, but it is dangerous.” His father nodded affirmingly.

“Does that mean she could be hurt as we’re speaking?” His mother seemed panicked. She turned to him. “Shikamaru! Go search for her! Hopefully, she just forgot about time.”

He stretched himself again and stood up in order to exit the house. As he was on his way to the forest, questions emerged in his head. His father had been unusually informative earlier. The only time he had said something about Naruto was when Shikamaru was twelve and cornered him after the Genin exams. This time, he didn’t even ask Shikaku for any kind of information which made the whole ordeal only more suspicious. What was the goal behind his speech? What was it supposed to affect? Shikamaru knew that his father didn’t talk for the sake of it and therefore suspected a plan behind their earlier conversation.

It is likely that the Nara head wanted to influence his son through what information he provided. Shikamaru went through all of the questions he had concerning Naruto that his father could have wanted to influence.

The information concerning Naruto’s skills as a sealer were mostly relevant concerning the question why the council desperately wants her in Konoha. It was logical that with not many Fuinjutsu users existing, someone exceptionally talented would be highly desirable. The only problem was that his father would not have told him this fact just like that. Which meant that there was something to hide that he wanted to steer Shikamaru’s attention away from.

It dawned on him that the Nara head only revealed a little part of the truth in order satisfy his son’s curiosity and thus, hide something which was of much greater importance. Something was not right about this matter but before he could think further about it, he finally spotted Naruto.

She was lying on her stomach scribbling pensively, not even noticing his approach. Not wanting her to make a mistake with the seal she was working on, he advanced from behind. Slowly, he lowered his body to the ground so that each knee was resting on the sides of her waist. Then, he stealthily bended over her and when she paused in her brushing, she quickly moved to grasp her wrists with both hands. He could feel her tensing up and he knew that she was preparing for an attack.

“Calm down. It’s only me.”

“Shikamaru?!” Her voice was oddly high. “What are you doing?” She seemed upset.

“You didn’t return so I came to look whether you’re still alive.” For a moment, Naruto paused as if only realizing how much had passed, then, she seemed to remember something else.

“So why did you sneak up on me like that?”

“I didn’t want you to make a mistake. You didn’t notice me approaching, so I thought that startling you could make your hand slip.”

She pulled her hands out of his grasp and rolled over to lay on her back so that they could see each other’s faces now. Her red face was splattered with little blotches of ink. He grinned.

“You look like a kid after a painting session.” There was still a blush on her face, but she grumbled slightly.

“Hey Shikamaru?”

“Hmm?”

“I guess I could crawl out, but it would be much easier to stand up if you’d get off me.”

It was then that Shikamaru truly realized in what position they were. Previously, he only let his ninja instincts work and only thought of an efficient way to alert her of his presence without causing any trouble. But now, he recognized that he was actually _leaning over her_. Each of his knees were spread to rest on the sides of her body and although his back was straight now, they were still in a compromising position.

Embarrassed, he hurried to stand up slightly stiffly.

“Right, sorry.”

.

It was some days after that, when Naruto returned to his room to wake him up. It was past noon, but he had been on a mission the day earlier and only returned very late.

“Shikamaru.” Her voice was only a whisper, as if she wanted to wake but not disturb him. He opened his eyes to see her sitting on the side of the bed with one of her flowery dresses on.

“Are you sure you’re coming? I know you’re exhausted from yesterday.” It was the day they were supposed to meet for a barbecue to introduce Naruto to the rest of team ten. He nodded sleepily into his pillow, hardly keeping his eyes open. She smiled faintly and he closed his eyes. Suddenly, he felt additional pressure weighing the bed down. He opened his eyes again only to be confronted with Naruto’s face directly staring at his. She was laying on her side, mirroring his position. He was sure that if they lay any nearer to each other, they could have been able to feel the breath of the other.

“Are you sure?” Her voice was still a merciful whisper that didn’t grate on his nerves and he found himself slowly dozing off again. After the short bewilderment of finding her in his bed, he was slowly getting used to her presence.

“Your hair smells like strawberries.” He didn’t know why he said that aloud. One moment he was distantly taking in the scent, but for some reason his brain-mouth filter didn’t seem to work, yet.

“Is it strong?”

He shrugged slightly. “Not really. But it still could be dangerous on missions.”

He could hear the smile in her voice. “Subtle is not my forte.”

It made Shikamaru open his eyes a crack to stare into her face. “There are people out there waiting to eat little blonde haired, strawberry scented girls like you.” It made Shikamaru want to point out that she shouldn’t be too incautious because he suspected that she was still too naïve to grasp the danger that comes with the job of being a ninja.

But her smile only widened. “Aww, are you concerned? You can be so sweet.”

He tried to avoid her eyes while his hands itched to play with the gem that he was used to find in his pants pocket. “That won’t work again.”

She made an honestly surprised face. “What?”

“Saying those things to get me out of bed.”

Her smile took a teasing tint. “I’m not saying that to get you out of bed. I mean it.”

Shikamaru did his best to ignore her, but Naruto Uzumaki wasn’t one to be ignored. “Are you one of those guys who don’t like being called cute? I don’t mean it belittling, you know? But I’ll admit that you’re handsome, too, if that makes you feel better.” Her laughter rang in his ears.

He didn’t stay in bed for much longer after that.

.

When they arrived at the barbecue place, he could already spot the others sitting at the table, although it wasn’t one with four seats as usual. He recognized that Ino sat at the window with Choji next to her. At his side was Asuma-sensei, which only left Shikamaru and Naruto to sit at one bench next to each other. He was hundred percent sure that Ino was responsible for that.

He steered towards them with Naruto walking beside him. She wasn’t one to hide behind others.

“Naru-chan!” It was Ino who distinguished them first. The others turned curiously to stare in their direction. “Hey, Ino-chan!” The blonde looked visibly happy.

When they arrived at the table, he let Naruto slide in first only to follow her after that. Sagging into his seat, he put his arms on top of the back rest. “Guys, that’s Naruto. Naruto, those are Choji and Asuma-sensei. You already know Ino.”

After that he relaxingly leaned back and let his fiancé do the talk while observing everyone. He didn’t feel nervous about introducing her to anyone, as she was far better than him in making small talk and making others like her. Shikamaru thought that he could get used to letting her take over the show to let him observe from the sidelines.

“So”, Asuma-sensei began “I’d like to say that Shikamaru told us much about you, but he didn’t know anything to tell about.”

Naruto’s face morphed into her trademark foxy grin. “Oh, I’m sure he knew more than he talked about.” The eyes turned to muster him, but he only shrugged.

The light conversations went on while they ate only to be interrupted by the girls going to the restroom together. The men fell into a comfortable silence, as soon as Ino and Naruto had left.

Asuma-sensei wiggled his eyebrows while grinning smugly in his direction. “Seems you had quite a lucky streak there, Shikamaru.”

He didn’t comment, only staring wryly at his teacher, while Choji chuckled softly. The man’s grin turned into a smile.

“You shouldn’t let the lady get away. The likes of her aren’t easy to find.”

Shikamaru felt the need to remark that the man was hardly in a position to talk about relationships, as he didn’t even have a stable one himself. Furthermore, it really didn’t matter what he did, the lady couldn’t get away, anyway. Instead he shrugged and confirmed with a quiet “Yeah, I know.”

Because he really did know. Naruto had succeeded all his expectations and he probably couldn’t have found a better wife if he tried. Instead of getting the average girl he hoped for, Naruto turned out to be anything but that. She was interesting, friendly, independent and didn’t get on his nerves. Objectively seen, you could really call that a lucky streak. Still he asked himself why he didn’t feel bothered by her energy, restlessness, ambition and optimism. The fact that he got along with her, although they had not much in common made him question whether he knew himself as good as he thought he did.

It was already late when they decided to head home. Everyone had stayed for much longer than they normally would, probably because it was easy to lose sense of time when Naruto was being entertaining.

The stars were clear that night as he walked beside the blonde girl while she was peacefully humming a song he didn’t know. She seemed happy.

“Naruto?”

“Hmm?”

It was the best moment to ask this and it had been nagging on him since he spoke with Ino. “Last week, when you met Ino for the first time, and she started ranting - do you remember?” She looked up, her blue eyes wide with attention and nodded. “You interrupted her suddenly. Did you-“ He broke himself off, pondering how to word his suspicions. Speaking his thoughts out loud seemed awkward. “Did you do that to… take the attention of me… to ‘push me out of the line of fire’?” He hoped that using Ino’s expressions would get the message across.

Naruto’s hum died down as she shrugged non-committingly. Her demeanor was unusually shy.

“Did you?” he questioned stubbornly.

“I felt bad that you had to lie to her because of me.” Guilt laced her voice. He halted only for her to stop not long after.

“You didn’t make me do anything. It was my own decision.” Her face was doubtful, the face of someone who thought the other was lying for the sake of comforting another. Shikamaru was angry. “You’re stupid. Here you are, forced into marrying a total stranger you can’t help but worry about. Safe your pity for yourself.”

Her features morphed into a harder expression. “I may not have your analytical mind Shikamaru, but I’m conscious enough to realize that I’m responsible for the situation we’re in.” He raised an eye-brow, prompting her to continue. “We – you and I - don’t know much about this whole arrangement, but I’m sure we have both realized something.” She wildly gestured around and Shikamaru was glad that they were in a more abandoned part of town since the volume she was talking in rose gradually. “This marriage was only arranged so that _I_ would come to Konoha. _You_ , are being used for that mean. If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t be stuck in a marriage. Just like in that Shogi game of yours, you are being sacrificed as a pawn by the player of the game.”

“Shut up.” She startled as his voice was harsher than it intended it to be, but he felt the need to clear this situation up. “Did you see it? The contract? I did, and at the end there are the signatures that dictated this arrangement: The Sandaime’s and my father’s. They, and the council they represent are the ones responsible. So get those dumb thoughts out of your blonde head, or is your hair color getting to you?”

Naruto stayed silent, but her eyes were wide and glassy with gratitude. She seemed so little and frail at that moment, that it was hard to recognize her from the energetic and optimistic persona she usually showed. He put a hand on her shoulder to push her softly forward.

“Besides-“ his voice took a playful tint to disperse the heavy atmosphere “I don’t need help from a girl. I’m supposed to be your husband, no? So just let me handle things.” Her laugh extinguished what little was left of the oppressive mood.

“Hey, you’re not my husband, yet. And I can handle myself just well!”

He chuckled. “Sure you can.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How did you feel about seven?


	8. 8

It was that week when Naruto was finally called to the Hokage tower again. She had been visiting it frequently on her own account to finally get to know the Jonin who would be testing her on her skills. But Tsunade always send her back without an answer. Shikamaru saw that the girl was beginning to get restless but he didn’t have much time to ponder it since he started to receive more missions again. However there could be only a number of possibilities that would explain why the Hokage’s decision took so long. Either, the particular Jonin she had in mind, was on a long mission which enabled the Godaime from informing them, _or_ the ninja declined her request, _or_ is still pondering it.

Whatever problem it was, it seemed to have dissolved itself, so that Naruto prepared herself to leave the house. As the message from Tsunade came fairly late she had changed her clothes from her pajamas to something more suitable.

“Is there a reason you’re always wearing dresses?” Shikamaru was currently lounging on her bed, watching her from the corner of his eye. It wasn’t long ago that he started entering her room, and even less that he nonchalantly began lying on her bed, since it was more comfortable than awkwardly standing around. It felt strange first, but he reasoned that if she took the right to lie in his bed, there would be no mistake in doing the same. Of course he kept his distance when she changed, like earlier. Although they were engaged, he’d feel like a creep watching her in underwear, but apart from that, he didn’t think Naruto would even let him watch in the first place.

He eyed his surroundings absentmindedly. The room looked vastly different from his. Where his was functional and classic, hers was colorful and creative.

“They’re comfortable”, she noted absentmindedly. Shikamaru turned on his side, leaning his head on his arm, as he watched her fussing with the dark blue hem. Then she sat on the floor, leaning on the side of the bed.

“Can you close the zipper?” He sat up, brushing her long hair away to get access to her back. The blonde locks felt soft, he noted.

“Suits you”, he murmured. Blue went nice with Naruto.

She turned around, her eyes wide with excitement. “You think so?” He didn’t answer.

“Actually, I’m wearing dresses because they’re a little easier to pull off.” He raised a brow at the mirror that was standing in front of them. In there, he could watch her reflexion.

“I’m a little clueless when it comes to fashion. But I feel like there is less you can do wrong when your clothing consists of only one piece.” She scratched her head in a slightly embarrassed manner which Shikamaru found oddly charming.

“Get going then. Are you sure you don’t need me to come with you?” Actually, he was comfortable sitting where he was, but he was willing to move if Naruto needed him to. Actually, he was curious about what Tsunade would tell the girl, as he didn’t have loads of information on the blonde himself. However, he didn’t have a doubt that the Hokage did. After all, she needed to know who is going to come in her village and who she will entrust with secretive and valuable information. Alone the choice of the Jonin testing Naruto, would give Shikamaru further information, because the Godaime wouldn’t just select someone random. Shinobi matter was serious and he was a strong believer of always analyzing decisions. Yet if he would accompany Naruto too often, Tsunade would get wind of it and suspect his behaviour. Although he wasn’t really doing anything wrong or forbidden, he’d rather not be on the radar of that terror-woman known as Senju Tsunade. So he’d only have an excuse if Naruto asked him to come with her. But she rose and turned around, now to look him in his real face, and not his reflection on the mirror.

“You just came back from a mission. You should rest.”

He smirked and his voice took a teasing tint. “I don’t know. It’s already late and I shouldn’t let a young lady walk through the streets alone at this time of the night.”

Of course, it was a load of bull, but it still made her bristle and her face morph into a determined expression. “Hey, I can take care of myself! Don’t belittle me!” Her offended tone made provoked a short laugh from him .

“I think you’re late already.” That comment made her hurry up and gather her things, muttering curses while hurrying out of the room.

.

When he slowly woke up, the distant scent of strawberries penetrated his senses. Confused, he opened his eyes. The pillow he was resting his head on wasn’t his. Nor were the covers or the room for that matter. Apparently, he must have fallen asleep while lying on Naruto’s bed yesterday night, since he had been too lazy to move to his own. As his senses grew sharper, he noticed that he lied under the covers, although he had been lying on top of them the previous night, which meant that someone must have tucked him in. Furthermore, his vest had been removed, making him more comfortable.

In spite of wanting to doze further, he couldn’t stop himself from wondering where Naruto was sleeping when he was in her bed. Tiredly, he sat up, stretched himself, and rose to move in the direction of his room. After a short walk, he opened the door only to spot blonde hair spread across his pillows. Even in her sleeping form, Naruto’s presence gave the plain room a splash of colour.

He moved and laid himself on top of the covers beside her. She must have come back that night only to see him in her bed, so that she decided to sleep in his instead. Blue orbs opened hesitantly and took him in.

“How’s the bed?”

“Comfortable.” Her scratchy voice sounded funny when she had just woken up.

“You could have woken me up. I accidently fell asleep yesterday.” It was what an average person in her position would have done, but _average_ seemed to be the complete opposite of _Naruto Uzumaki_. She closed her eyes again and he mimicked her in doing so. It was a little too early to be talking.

“You needed rest. No big deal… I just took your bed instead.”

There was silence and Shikamaru absently noted that she probably fell asleep again. It didn’t take him long to follow her.

.

That was why he was awoken some hours later, but not by Naruto’s gentle hand like he had grown used to, but by rushing and scuffling from the floor. There was a loud bang of his door being slammed open only to be followed by his mother’s noisy, panicked voice. “Shikamaru, wake up! Have you seen – “ She broke off and he cracked an eye open. The Nara matriarch was frozenly standing in the middle of his room and befuddledly stared at the blonde girl that was sleeping next to him. He briefly wondered how late she returned last night, since she was still out cold, but his thoughts were interrupted by his mother’s stammering. Shikamaru could have smirked smugly since he couldn’t recall a time his mother had been reduced to that. Only a moment later he realized the cause of her surprise: him and Naruto lying in the same bed. Tiredly he groaned. It was still too early to analyze the situation and at this hour of the day he really couldn’t care about being found in a compromising position. They were engaged for God’s sake. That meant they should be able to do whatever the hell the wanted. Clumsy from sleep, he stifled his face in his pillow, trying to go back into slumber. He was out before his mother could exit the room.

.

When they both woke up it was almost noon, which aggravated Naruto, since she didn’t like ‘wasting time sleeping’ – wherever that philosophy had come from. It was one of her traits that he didn’t even want to understand, as it was so averse to his being that he couldn’t be expected to comprehend it.

Apparently, his mother hadn’t bothered to wake them up which meant that they had missed breakfast. When he entered the kitchen, he could see Yoshino through the window, tending to the garden. Naruto came not soon after with her hair still wet from the shower she took.

“Damn, we missed breakfast.” She sounded positively heartbroken.

“We should sleep more often in the same bed if that means she’ll let me sleep in.” Naruto rolled her eyes at his comment and laughed it off with a “You wish.”

Then she put her hands up to her hips and looked through the light flooded kitchen. “Well I guess we’ll take breakfast into our own hands.” Shikamaru took that moment to start a proper conversation so the amount of work he had to provide would be reduced to a minimum. Yes, he didn’t dislike Naruto, but it would take her a hell of a lot more to get him to help in the kitchen on his free will. Not if he could evade it.

“So? What did the Hokage say yesterday?” Sure enough, the girl started to work on autopilot while going through practiced movements.

“All the arrangements stand. I will meet the guy who’ll test me the day after tomorrow on training ground seven.”

“Has she mentioned a name?”

Naruto’s voice was absent as she hurried though the kitchen and cracked some eggs into a pan that sizzled with butter. “Nope. Though it appeared by the way she talked that the Jonin was male.” She opened cupboards and shelves in a hurry and put two sets of dishes on the table which he was sitting at. “I don’t even know whether I’ll be doing the test with others or just by myself.” Somewhere along the way she had tied an apron on which she took off now to present the results of her short cooking session.

“Tadaa! Naruto Uzumaki’s extra fluffy omelette!” She sat down in front of him and they started to eat.

“It’s good”, he noted. It really was, and Shikamaru did not only claim that for Naruto’s sake, although he had come to experience that Naruto soaked up compliments up like a sponge. This time was no different and her eyes shone as he thanked him. When she did that, she seemed honestly surprised and grateful, which made Shikamaru want to know which kind of life she lead to make her react the way she did.

“Hey Shikamaru?” He looked up from his food to face her in order to prompt her to speak on. “Do you know the Hyuugas?”

He raised a brow, wondering where that topic suddenly came from. “Why’re you asking?” Suddenly, his ninja instincts kicked in and his mind started its analyzing process. It alerted his senses and made him remember the suspicions he had about Naruto before he had met her. The probability of her being a spy who sold out information about Konoha was high enough to be considered, and the sudden question about one of the most influential, powerful and secretive clans in the village threw him off and did nothing to ease his worries concerning her intentions. These thoughts hit him like a brick and made him realize that he hadn’t properly entertained them for a long time. Since he had met Naruto, in fact. Shikamaru questioned whether Naruto had skillfully lulled him into a charade of a comfy and domestic life. If she did, she had made a damn good job. In all the time he’d been with her, he never really entertained serious concerns about her intentions. Instead, he tried to dissect what quality of hers made her so unnerving. The fact that he had lost a grip on his objective, distanced analyzing skills, his most important weapon, made him hyperaware. Immediately, he dissociated himself from the situation and started playing with the green gem in his pocket. He had to keep his cool. That’s why Shikamaru forced himself to ignore all the time they spend together in order to being able to view her like he would have had any other person.

Apparently oblivious to the sudden change in atmosphere (or was that an act?), Naruto only sighed exasperatedly. “It’s almost impossible to get Hinata-chan out of the house. And I just have a _feeling_ that it has something to do with her family.” _Don’t seem suspicious. Pry her motives out of her._ Carefully, while flinging the stone in his pocket through thumb and forefinger, he deadpanned her statement with a mere glance. “You should base your theories on more than just your female intuition.”

She bristled. “Hey! My theories _are_ based on more than –“ He rolled his eyes and interrupted her.

“Anyway, you’re right.” It was no big deal. There would be no harm telling her, or anyone for that matter, that the Hyuuga heir didn’t have much free time, due to her position in her clan. If Naruto was a spy, which he honestly couldn’t tell at the moment, he could give her useless information so that she would still consider him to be ignorant of her motives. _If she had any. Did she?_ His instincts and his mind fought against each other but the mind didn’t gain the upper hand as it usually did. He was undecided and confused, something abnormal for him. God damn Naruto Uzumaki for doing whatever she did to him that got him so caught up. His sharp eyes focused on the blonde girl. “Even when we were in Academy, she didn’t do much with the rest of her class mates. Her family had great part in that.”

“Why would they do that?” Naruto’s blue orbs were deeply attentive.

“The Hyuugas are a little – “ He paused, pondering how to word it, in order not to tell too much “- Strict. They spend loads of time training. On top of that, Hinata is the clan heir. That clan is picky about who to converse with anyway, so they wouldn’t just let her make friends with whomever she wanted.” No valuable information. The Hyuugas are known for these traits and they would be of no use for an enemy.

“And how are the Naras and the Hyuugas getting along?” Naruto seemed to be thinking hardly, thus did not notice how much the question nagged on him because that information could be used when planning attacks. If the enemy would get to know about two extremely influential clans in Konoha probably not having a good relationship, they could use that fact to search for weak links in the groups to animate a fight against each other. It was incredibly smart, too. You didn’t even need to get your hands dirty. You just brought big and important families against each other and thus, initiated a little version of a civil war. That would weaken both clans and therefore, Konoha, too. Was Naruto planning on doing that? He searched her face for any sign that would inform him, but there was none. Well, better play safe and bluff a little.

“Great. The Naras and Hyuugas get along splendidly. We work together on every opportunity” That statement was a so exaggerated, that it might as well had been a lie. The clans had an alright relationship. The Naras thought the others to be too uptight, the Hyuugas believed his clan to be too undisciplined. Yet both families didn’t see it as any of their buisness and there was a mutual respect for their respective skills. But it was better to pretend that the families were strong partners in case enemies wanted to provoke a fight between them.

“Really?” Naruto seemed elated at that fact, something that he hadn’t expected. The reaction seemed too honest to belong to an enemy who’d wish the exact opposite of what Shikamaru just told her.

“Can you accompany me this evening to the Hyuuga compound then?” His confusion only grew.

“What for?”

Naruto’s shine didn’t falter. “Well, since I’ve arrived in Konoha, I spend lots of time with Hinata-chan, right? Not as much as I would have liked to, but enough for her father to want to get to know me better. That’s why they invited me for dinner, this evening.” A reasonable request, seeing as it comes from the controlling Hyuuga head.

“And what’s my role in that?” Shikamaru knew that Naruto didn’t need anyone to hold her hand while making conversation – not even when she spoke to powerful men like Hiashi Hyuuga.

“Hinata said that her father would like you to come if you weren’t otherwise occupied, and since you said your clans have a good relationship, I thought I could make an even better impression _with_ you.” He could follow her explanation and even considering the clans’ true relationship, it was a pretty good plan. The only obstacle was the fact that Shikamaru didn’t want to do anything less than meeting up with the Hyuugas for dinner. As he never spoke more than a view words with either of them, Hinata and Neji included, he harbored no interest in putting himself in a doubtlessly energy consuming situation.

“No.” Naruto’s features fell all of sudden and he almost felt guilty for spoiling her good mood.

“But why?”

“I just don’t want to.”

Her eyes widened and bored into his. “Please, Shikamaru! It’d be so much more fun with you!”

He creased his brows because he knew he was no jester you could have casually incredible amounts of fun with. Not that he himself had a problem with it.

“Come on, I’d owe you something.”

“How can I know that I can trust you?” He didn’t mean to slip that, but he did. The least he could do, was go with it.

“What do you mean?” She seemed confused. Good, let her get a taste of her own medicine.

“I could do you a favour, but how can I know that I’d get repaid? How can I trust you?” This particular question was only a placeholder for another one. What he actually wanted to ask was, whether he could trust her not to cause any harm towards Konoha, but obviously, he couldn’t just ask that directly.

Shikamaru expected her to react hurt or confused and to deny his allegations, as it would have been both reasonable if she was innocent or guilty. Then he asked himself when he would finally stop _expecting_ anything from Naruto, because she did not display the emotions that any other person would have. Instead, she grinned in that inimitable foxy way of hers. However, at the moment, her expression seemed even fiercer than usual. It made him slip the moss agate quickly through nimble fingers, careful to keep a stoic expression.

Undeterred, Naruto bearded her forearms on the table, leaning, so that her upper part of the body hovered above it, as she approached him slowly. Eventually her face stopped, but she was so near that he could feel her breath faintly on his own face. In the back of his mind, he noticed how Naruto’s cleavage was in clear view, but he denied himself from getting unnerved by that, at least visibly. That’s why he settled on the blue orbs, anticipation burning in him. But his eyes couldn’t keep her gaze as she neared his left ear till her mouth was right next to it and he could feel her breath much stronger now. “I guess you can’t.”

Shikamaru turned his head and there was only a hair’s breadth of a distance between them. Two could play one game and although he was currently behind because he didn’t even realize they were playing, he planned on changing on that. He was the last person to be considered competitive, but somehow he refused to be undermined by Naruto Uzumaki. Somewhere in his head, a part of his mind asked him whether he wanted to prove something, and whether he wanted to prove it to himself or his fiancé, but he ignored it. Undeterred, he kept a perfect poker face on and starred into her impossibly sea blue eyes.

“You can’t ever know whether you can trust me, unless you find out for yourself.” It was a challenge, a lure. _Seduction_.

“This evening?”

“At 7.”

“It’s a date.” He smirked. Yes, two can play a game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave your opinion about 8!


	9. 9

“Naruto-san, is it possible for you to practice your sealing skills in Konoha? I know that we do not have any sealing masters who would be able to teach you.”

“Oh, that’s alright. More often than not, I’m practicing on my own anyway. It’s not like there are many seal masters _anywhere_.”

That’s how it’d been all evening long and by now, Shikamaru was convinced that Hiashi Hyuuga invited Naruto only over to interrogate her properly. Sure, he did it carefully, without being too obvious, but Shikamaru saw it as what it was. Although the blonde girl managed to bring lightheartedness with her being into the conversation, everything involving the Hyuuga clan seemed to be covered in tense atmosphere that not even his fiancé could fully penetrate.

“I see your father is faring well, Shikamaru-san. He seemed to be elated about his future daughter-in-law.” He was glad that he was at least halfheartedly paying attention, or else he would have missed the clan head’s comment. Although he would really have loved to shut the man out, the older frequently spoke to him as well. Whether it was because Hiashi didn’t want to appear rude or whether he truly wanted to talk with him, Shikamaru didn’t know.

“Yes, my parents are very fond of Naruto.” Said girl and even Hinata giggled at that, which caused him to shortly look at his fiancé who was sitting beside him. She was wearing a dress that was unusually subdued. It wasn’t flowy or flowery like normal, but rather straight, simple but still a little elegant. For claiming not to know much about fashion, she had surely chosen the right clothes for a Hyuuga dinner.

The rest of the dinner proceeded in the same manner and Shikamaru asked himself how he would ever handle these stuck-up Hyuugas if his future wife wouldn’t be there with him. However, somewhere along the way, Naruto excused herself to go to the bathroom. Surprisingly, Hiashi asked Hinata to show her friend the training grounds after that. Both were so happy about spending some time with each other, that they probably didn’t harbor the same concerns that he did. Yet, Naruto laid a hand on his and looked at him meaningfully, as if to ask, ‘ _will you be alright?’_. She has noticed how tense he had been all evening. He nodded shortly. Shikamaru would rather have her with him, but he knew that he couldn’t just keep her when the clan head had offered for Hinata to show her around. Besides, although, the Hyuuga obviously wasn’t someone to casually hang out with, the Nara heir had handled far worse people on both missions and on his free time.

“I am glad that you have joined my invitation for this evening, Shikamaru-san”, Hiashi said once the girls were gone.

“So am I”, he lied skillfully. It wasn’t like he harbored any kind of dislike against the man or the Hyuugas in general; he just knew better ways to spend his time.

“Really? I was almost convinced that you wouldn’t come.” So the man would finally slip the polite façade and tell what he really had in mind.

“Naruto convinced me.”

“Your relationship seems harmonic.” Yeah, that was maybe a way to describe it. “I must confess that I respect you for taking part in this agreement without causing further difficulties.” Shikamaru knew that _the agreement_ didn’t refer to this dinner anymore, but rather to the marriage as a whole. He nodded, acknowledging what the man said. It’s not like Naruto or he had a big choice in that matter. “I also recognize your father’s decision in that matter. It certainly wasn’t an easy way to go.” Shikamaru started to suspect that the girls’ departure wasn’t because Hiashi wanted to give them alone time, but rather for him to speak with Shikamaru.

He raised a brow in order for the man to just spit out what he wanted to ask. Hiashi smiled. “You’re just as perceptive as your father, Shikamaru-san.” Having realized that all pretenses were dropped he dared to ask the question which had been bothering him all evening.

“So was this evening’s purpose to interrogate Naruto, or me?” The man’s smile turned into a sly expression.

“Both I suppose.”

“And your assessment?”

“Concerning Naruto, good enough. She seems like an honest girl.” Somehow, Shikamaru was glad that Hiashi thought that. It was one more experienced and smart ninja who thought that his fiancé could be trusted. It never hurt to have an additional opinion.

“But I never tried to interrogate _you_ , Shikamaru-san.” He didn’t answer, silently prodding the man to continue.

“I know our clans have not been very close in the past, but I believe that not only our families but Konoha also, would benefit from working together.” The Hyuuga head inhaled deeply. “I know that we currently live in times of peace, however, sometimes these years only mark the period between two wars. In case that war arrives, it is important for our shinobi to work together as much as they can to ensure our home’s safety.”

Shikamaru nodded. So this was all about a political matter.

“That is why I desire the future generations to be close.” Shikamaru understood what lay behind the man’s words. If the clan heads worked together, the rest of the families were bound to do the same. Yet, this hadn’t mattered not long ago, as Hinata and he had close to no contact; but it had changed when Naruto stepped into the game. Although she wasn’t in charge of the Naras, of course, in the future her authority could only be undermined through him once _he_ was the clan head. Furthermore, Naruto already had so much of an influence on him that she found herself in a pretty powerful position. If she would work together with the Hyuugas, so would he.

.

When they arrived home, Naruto departed to her room unusually quickly, to get all the sleep she could get for tomorrow’s test. He, however, was too lazy to take a shower yet and lounged in the living room. When his father entered it, he sat in front of him, a grin plastered on his face. “So? How was your first diplomatic conversation?”

Shikamaru allowed himself to glare. “You knew he’d be doing that.”

“Why else would he invite you over?” Shikamaru didn’t know whether to be amazed about his father’s analytical skills, or whether to be angry about not being informed about what awaited him. So he settled on both.

“You could’ve warned me.”

“Oh, but you have to prepare yourself for things like that in the future. I never pressured you about your duties as the future clan head, but you’ll eventually have to learn them.”

The younger male rolled his eyes. “You only want me to do all the work.”

In response to that, the grin turned into a smirk. “Of course. I’m looking forward for an early retirement.”

He was about to hypocritically retort about what a lazy ass his father was being when his mother suddenly appeared on the door swell. She seemed to be drying dishes, a plate still in her hand and a frown in her face as she spoke up.

“You rather not say things like that, or you’ll be an already worse example than you have been. Shikamaru has probably already taken that comment as an advice.”

Wryly, Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. “I’m only the clan _heir_ and will stay that for a while. At the moment I wasn’t even thinking about ditching my duties to my kids, although it does sound tempting.”

Yoshino laughed humourlessly. “Oh really? Don’t pretend to be clueless, Shikamaru, because what I’ve found today looked like you were thinking of having children far sooner than any of us would have imagined!”

His father turned to look at him interestedly but Shikamaru was shocked speechless.

“What the hell are you implying?”

However, Yoshino only rolled her eyes. “Please, don’t act as if you don’t know _exactly_ what I mean.” Then, she turned solely to her husband, almost completely dismissing her son. “Shikaku, imagine what happened this morning: I, completely naïve, go into Naruto’s room because she hasn’t woken up as early as she normally would. But when I entered, she wasn’t in her bed. So I thought that she may be already up; but although I searched almost the whole compound for her, I couldn’t find her. Slowly, I was starting to panic, that she has ran away or something, and how – “ She moved to Shikamaru pointing with the plate still in her hand in his direction “- How are we going to find someone like her for Shikamaru again?”

“Anyway”, his father interrupted curiously.

“So, where was I? Scared like I haven’t been for a long time, I stormed into _his_ room, only to find Naruto and him, lying side by side, in the same bed!” Now she fully turned him, hands stemmed to her hips. “Now, I’m from the last generation, but I know _exactly_ what _that_ means.”

Shikamaru only just recovered from his speechlessness to interrupt her hurriedly. “But that wasn’t what it looked like!” He almost winced at how cliché and guilty it sounded. Quickly, he looked for a way to explain himself. “I just accidently fell asleep in her bed, so she went to sleep in mine, and I searched for her, and somehow doze off with her, and-“ Abruptly, he interrupted himself when he noticed that it didn’t sound quite as innocent as he thought it would. But it _had_ been completely innocent, _or hadn’t it_?

However, his thoughts were interrupted by his father’s heavy exhale. Hesitantly, the man fixed his eyes on him. “Son, I know that Naruto is a pretty girl, and that at your age you must be curious to-“ This must have been the most mortifying moment of his life and so entirely embarrassing that it made the blood shoot up in his face. Knowing about sex is one thing, but having your parents talk about it to you was probably the worst trauma he was about to experience.

“No, that was _honestly_ , I really mean it, not what it looked like.”

His mother rolled her eyes and groaned. “ _Fine_. Let’s pretend that” she motioned quotation marks “’it wasn’t what it looked like’ if that makes you feel better. “

“But that doesn’t change the fact that you have to be informed”, his father seamlessly closed the statement. Who knew that his parents could be such a good team when it came to ganging up on him. “I just said that-“

“Still” his father interrupted, raising his hand, as if to halt him. “Those actions have to be considered well, as you’re both still young.”

“ _Very_ young”, his mother added and nodded.

“However, I do know that teenagers often don’t consider their parents warnings but, if you _have_ to do _it_ ,” and that was the moment Shikamaru honest to God considered simply running out of the room “you have to be careful. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against grandchildren-“

“ _Absolutely_ nothing”, his mother interrupted

“-but” And that’s when Shikamaru stood up, ready to bolt. “Alright, no grandchildren, I get it.” Clearly, his parents were adamant about not listening to him, so it was probably easier to give in. Quickly, he exited the room. He really needed no more of that.

.

The next morning Naruto didn’t wake him up again, and he vaguely remembered that today she was going to be tested in order to become a ninja.

.

Kakashi Hatake had never known much about Naruto Uzumaki, not even that her last name was Uzumaki. Although he had figured that officially, she wouldn’t be called by her father’s surname, he hadn’t bothered finding out what she was named.

Instead, he tried to ignore her presence since she was born, or rather, since Minato-sensei has died. That man had been so important to him, that he had not only become a teacher and a friend, but also some kind of father figure. That was why his death hurt so much which drove him to shut out everything concerning him.

So Kakashi acted as if he didn’t take notice of his sensei’s daughter. Somewhere along, he noted that she had been sent away, for he never saw her in Konoha again. At that time, the Sandaime had called him to tell about her whereabouts and her moving to Uzu. The third Hokage had asked him whether he would like to take over the job as one of her guards who should watch over her. He hadn’t needed a second to decline. Over the years, he was called in regularly and asked whether he had changed his mind over that matter. He didn’t.

Although Kakashi matured and dealt better with the pain as time passed, the scars never really healed. But he improved in other aspects of his life and got more social in general. That particularly started after he finally let team seven pass and found himself in regular contact with those kids. Often he considered his students to be the hardest to teach and maybe that was the reason he even let them pass. However, he quickly learned that many children, not only the Uchiha of his team, or he himself, when he had been little, were troubled and every one of them has their own pack to carry.

That particular fact stuck to him when he had been lounging with the other jonin senseis while waiting for their students to hopefully pass their chunin exams. Asuma had been lazily sitting in the sofa, cigarette in his mouth, and watching the woods through the window. “They’re growing up so fast” was what he said. Kurenai had laughed at that. “You’re almost acting like you’re their father or something.” But Kakashi had known how much of a father figure a sensei could be, so he chose not to comment on that. “One of my kids,” Asuma sighed, smoke exhaling “has to grow up so fast. Will be married in less than five years.” Kurenai had raised her eyebrows, but she didn’t look surprised. “You mean the Nara heir.” Kakashi had been vaguely confused about the Nara clan arranging marriages but hadn’t spent much time pondering it. He had had enough problems on his own.

Little did he know, that the Nara heir’s fiancé would become his problem soon enough. Precisely, four years after that conversation, when the Godaime had called him to her office. The look on her face had been serious.

“I don’t know if you kept up with the gossip, but Shikakau’s future daughter-in-law has arrived in Konoha. “ Kakashi only shook his head. He really couldn’t care less about the marriage arrangements of the Nara clan. “She has the potential to become a formidable ninja and not only me, but also the council, want to take her among our ranks.” He slowly realized where this conversation was leading to. “I want you to test her skills and determine whether she is fit for that.”

Under his mask, he had frowned, as he didn’t understand why the Hokage had chosen him to do the job. He had only ever taught one team, which didn’t result in, let’s say, fantastic results. Furthermore, he had so many problems with himself, he barely could be the guiding teacher figure a student needed. Although he knew he wasn’t horrible, there were certainly better people to take that job on.

“I don’t do single students. They can’t learn about teamwork if they work on their own.”

“For the beginning, I only want you to test her and determine whether she should become a Konoha shinobi or not. You can take a couple of genins or chunins to take part, so you can see how well she works in a team. “

There still was something fishy about that offer, but he had accepted. Just as he was leaving her office, Tsunade’s voice stopped him. “And keep your eyes open.” He had raised his eyebrows, not that it could be seen with the mask and the headband on. “I don’t say she can’t be trusted, and she seems genuine enough, but-“ She had sighed “Fact is, that we don’t know her well enough. Her previous teacher assured me of her loyalties, but I know him, and even he can be wrong. The chances are really slim, but I’ll just say that for you to stay alert.” Her mouth had morphed into a smile. “Although I already know you will be.”

“Why not have ANBUs tail her, if you aren’t completely sure of her motives?”

“Meet her at Friday. Which training ground do you prefer?” She had asked instead, ignoring his question.

So Kakashi had figured that it was none of his buisness and kept in mind to be alert around the girl. However he still considered it to be an unimportant matter and only later remembered that he not even knew the girl’s name.

Now he was beating himself up over it and swore to never be as easygoing like that again. Because when Friday had arrived and he had appeared on training ground seven two hours late, he knew that he had been lured into a trap.

The first thing he noticed was bright sunny-blonde hair of a shade that he had only seen on only one other person before. Suspicion immediately crept up on him, but he had briefly dared to hope. And then she had turned around, and all the hope went into the drain. Because those eyes on top of that hair made it clear as water who exactly she was.

She fixed him with the eyes of Minato-sensei, a slightly annoyed look on her face. “You’re late.” Although he had heard that line countless times in his life already, a handy excuse didn’t come to his mind this time around. Instead, there was a moment of silence, which he broke through a “You must be Naruto” as if had been informed of who she was. The last ray of hope died doen when she nodded in affirmation.

“Uzumaki for now. Will most probably change soon.” She shrugged. “And you are…?”

“Kakashi Hatake.” She seemed excited, earlier anger forgotten. “Are you going to be my new sensei?”

“I’m testing you today. We’ll see about what comes after that.”

They were interrupted by the sound of children bickering. Out of the corner of his eye he could spot the Sandaime’s grandson with the usual friends he was hanging out with. After that meeting with Tsunade, he had asked for her to send a genin team at the date he’d be testing Naruto, to properly judge her teamwork skills.

“Hey you! You’re the new girl, aren’t you? Shikamaru’s woman!” It was the loud kid – what was his name? Something with ‘Konoha’ in it.

“Woman? I’m his fiancé you runt.”

“Hey, it’s not like you’re so much taller!” The boy was right. Naruto - as much as he tried to ignore her – was short, and the kid who was doing the talking would probably grow to be taller than she was.

“I don’t need height to kick your ass.” So she had Kushina-san’s fire, then. Somehow, Kakashi wished it had been the other way round, that Naruto had looked like her mother and had her father’s personality, since the physical appearance stuck out than the character. At least on first glance. Maybe then, it wouldn’t hurt so much to merely look at the Uzumaki.

“Hey, do you know who I am?” Konoha-something bristled.

“You could be the Hokage and I wouldn’t care” she said dismissively, head held high. “Today, you are my teammate, right?” He could spot her turn to Kakashi, although he tried to avoid her eyes, her entire being.

“Yes” he replied. “Let’s get this over with. You four are a team today. For-“ he pointedly looked at the genins “you, it will be extra training.” Then he turned away. “Naruto, you also know what this means to you.” She nodded.

“Your mission will be something rather classic. It’s called the _bell test_.” He explained the rules, although he had brought three bells with him than only the usual two. This test would be mean towards Naruto, and he knew it. The genin team was told that they’d receive higher ranked missions if they passed Kakashi’s test. Of course, they didn’t know the actual criteria they were tested on, and therefore, would work as a team, but only among themselves. They would try to shut Naruto out, although in this scenario, she was supposed to be part of the team. Those were difficult circumstances for the girl to deal with, but since she was older, and had probably more experience than the average Academy graduate, he had higher expectations. After all, you couldn’t always stand the people you were on a mission with, either. When he counted down to zero, all three vanished from his sight.

.

After hiding behind the many trees that she still hadn’t got quite used to, for only a short amount of time, it didn’t take long for Naruto to spot the kid who had rudely dismissed her as Shikamaru’s ‘woman’. In between the Hatake guy who had been two damn hours too late, and that boy who’d really need to learn how to speak to girls if he ever wanted to get a girlfriend, Shikamaru really was the finest gentleman. She sighed silently. If her fiancé had been here, he probably already would have developed a water-proof plan how to handle this test. She, on the other hand, was rather one to act and not to analyze situations to their last detail. But since the kids who she had to work with didn’t appear to be making plans either, she guessed she had to take on the job.

While watching the boy with the long scarf trying and failing to get the bells from Hatake, she pondered about this test. It could have easily been done without the children. The jonin could have brought only one bell and assigned her to try to get it in a certain time frame. But since the genins were invited over, it meant that they had to serve some kind of purpose. Since this test was supposed to show off her skills, she could only guess that she should demonstrate how well she could work with them, even if their leader seemed to be a little, rude dumbass.

But she recognized the stubborn ones, once she saw them. After all, she was one of them. Apart form being otherwise occupied with being beaten up, the scarf-boy probably wouldn’t be easily convinced to work with her. Which meant she first had two meet up with the two others. Naruto grinned. Shikamaru would have been proud of her assessment.

It only took her an embarrassingly short amount of time to notice where the little girl was hiding. She looked at war with herself, probably fighting the urge to step into the fight between the boy and Hatake.

“Hey.” The girl startled, and quickly turned around. “I’m Naruto.” She looked confused, and Naruto could admit that it was probably not the best moment to make introductions, but they somehow had to get this whole thing rolling.

“Uhmm… I’m Moegi.” Her voice was quiet and hesitant. The blonde decided to get straight to the point. “Listen Moegi-chan,” she whispered affectionately, “why don’t we search for the glasses-boy and then gather scarf-boy to work together on getting the bells?” Naruto actually believed that she could gather the bells without their help. It was not a matter of arrogance, but rather one of realistic assessment. Although Hatake would undoubtedly be strong, she had the element of surprise to work with. In the past, it used to bother her to be seen as a weak little girl, but she had come to realize that her appearance gave her a terrific advantage in battles.

“I-I don’t know.” The girl sighed and tried to avoid Naruto’s penetrative glance. “There are only three bells, and without meaning any offense, if I had them, I would give them to my teammates.”

“That’s alright. We’ll gather the bells together, I don’t care who gets them at the end.”

Moegi’s eyes widened. “How do I know that you’re telling the truth?”

The blonde could only grin brightly in response. Konoha’s people sure were a distrustful bunch. “You don’t. But you don’t really have much of a choice, either.” The genin seemed to be thinking hard and turned to the scarf-boy who was now lying on the ground before Hatake, who didn’t even have a strand of hair out of place. “Alright,” she answered, “Let’s go look for Udon-kun.”

It didn’t take them long to find the glasses-boy, whose name was supposedly Udon. And they say her name was weird. With Moegi on her side, it didn’t take her long to persuade him, either. Now came the hard one.

“Alright, first we have to get your friend out of that fight, since he doesn’t seem to be planning to leave it on his own accord, soon.” Although scarf-boy’s antics were hopelessly futile, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy for him when she noticed how hard he was trying.

“His name’s Konohamaru,” sniffled Udon. “But he won’t stop even if we ask him to,” Moegi added.

“Then we won’t ask. We’ll go and get him.” She put her fingers together in an all too familiar sign and produced two doppelgangers with a quiet “Kagebunshin-no-jutsu”. Confused, the kids watched the doppelgangers put a henge on, so that there were two Moegis, and two Udons standing in the woods.

“What are you doing?”

“We’ll get Konohamaru-kun. It shouldn’t be too hard since Hatake-san isn’t paying much attention anyways. But to be sure, I’ll send the kagebunshins over.” Just as she finished her sentence, the doppelgangers started running to the bare field in a pace that wouldn’t seem suspicious. It didn’t take them long to grasp scarf-boys arms and pull him back in-between the trees. Hatake watched everything in disinterest, and turned to read the book in his hands again.

“What the hell-“

“Hey, I’m Naruto,” she interrupted. The scarf boy looked momentarily confused and for the lack of a better thing to say he grunted, “Konohamaru”.

“Want to work together?” In response, the boy rolled his eyes, as if he was standing before the dimmest person ever. “Unless you haven’t noticed _woman_ , there are only three bells. Which _we_ will get.”

“I’m okay with that.”

Now he looked like he seriously feared for her intelligence. “Do you think we’re stupid? Think twice who you’re trying to trick!”

“I mean it. We’ll get the bells together but you can keep them at the end.”

“How can I know that I can believe you?”

She laughed silently. “You can’t. But at the end of this, you’ll know whether I’m trustable. That will be important in the future.”

.

Kakashi was seeing the words in his book, but wasn’t really reading them. Although his body posture wouldn’t betray it, his nerves were on edge, with the knowledge that behind one of these trees, his sensei’s daughter was hiding and plotting. It was exciting.

However, he didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed when the Sandaime’s grandson was the first one to attack him. Easily, he fended him off, till the other kids of his team collected him. Naruto still hadn’t made an appearance.

Then, after approximately ten minutes, the genin team ran out of the trees in his direction. Kakashi was glad that some kind of team work came into this whole test, but unfortunately, the one who should be tested wasn’t participating in the team work. The kids started hitting him from all directions and he had to admit that they knew pretty well how to work together. In fact, if Naruto would have worked with them, they could have had a decent chance at gaining the bells, but the girl was nowhere to be seen. To remain entertained, he occasionally let them brush the bells to let them think they were close to reaching their goal.

He was just about to kick the Konoha-boy, when he suddenly couldn’t move his left foot anymore. Befuddled he stared at his foot which was seemingly held b the genins’ team leader. But Kakashi knew that it was impossible for that kid to hold him in place. Not having much time to ponder it, as the girl and the other boy started attacking again, he started fighting on his place. He could easily stand hundred of them even if both of legs were bound. However, as soon as his hands made contact with their little ones, he couldn’t move them either. Confused he stared at them.

Due to them holding him, the kids couldn’t move either, but that was unimportant. The question was how the hell they managed to hold him in the first place. As he couldn’t develop a solution, he tried pulling harder and harder to get rid of their hands. Damn kids had shit eating grins on their faces.

He was just about to retort that whatever they had done wasn’t going to help them anytime soon, as they couldn’t move themselves without letting him go, when Naruto stepped out of the woods. She was smiling and calmly walking into their direction.

“How far can you move?” Her question suggested that she had her hand in the present situation. So he didn’t answer. “It’ll be good to know, for, let’s say… scientific research. I’ve never tested those seals life, so it’d be interesting to know. I’ll bet you can move a little though, right?” She was right, he could move his limbs slightly and if he put very much chakra into it, he could probably free them, too, but his mind had stopped working properly when she mentioned the word _seals_. “They’re still being tested and I didn’t want to cause damage in case they wouldn’t work, so I only seeped little amounts of chakra into them.” By now, she had arrived in front of Kakashi and easily plucked the bells of his belt. Lightly, she touched each of the kids’ hands and gave them each one bell, after not only them, but he, too, could finally move away again. Their palms were smeared with ink. Having forgotten the purpose of the test, he grabbed the wrist of the boy with the glasses; but although they were dirty like the kid just had a painting session, there were no distinctive signs drawn.

“You wouldn’t see anything. I add that little extra to every one of my little babies.” Naruto’s hands were stemmed to her hips, the smile, which resembled sensei-Minato’s so much, never left her face. “I can get very possessive of them, you know? Wouldn’t want them to be copied.” Kakashi let go of the boy’s hand and focused his whole attention on the blonde girl standing before him. He didn’t pretend that she didn’t pass because her giving the bells away proved that she had already understood the test’s purpose. Instead, he seized into his pouch and pulled out a hitai-ate.

“Congrats. You’re officially one of Konoha’s kunoichis now.” Her eyes widened up like the ones of a little child having gotten a precious present. Gingerly, she received the headband and knotted it behind her head so it was covering her forehead.

“That’s so cool! I always wanted to have one!” She looked upwards as if wanting to see the hitai-ate that was now protecting her forehead. “Thanks Hata-“

“Call me sensei-Kakashi.”

She seemed confused. “Sensei?”

“Yes,” was the only thing he replied. Tsunade already owed him one for deceiving him, so the least she could do was assign Naruto to him as a student. Besides, he was pretty sure that the Hokage was planning on doing that anyway. Once he had met the girl, he couldn’t just let her go. “I can admit that I underestimated you this time. But you still can learn a lot of me.”

“I’m sure of that.” She laughed loudly.

“Hey!” It was Konoha-something’s voice. He pointed with a finger on the older girl, a bright grin on his face. “Okay, you’re not only Shikamaru’s woman; you’re badass, _and_ can be trusted. Just wait! I’ll beat you boss!”

Naruto only laughed more. “Boss?” But the children were already running away to God-knows-where with the boy ( _Konohamaru_ , Kakashi suddenly remembered) still yelling something towards her.

“Suits you.” He turned around to spot the Nara heir lazily sitting on a tree branch, a soft grin on his face. Kakashi had already felt him approaching about the time Konohamaru started his little speech.

“Do you really think so?” Naruto seemed to brighten up when she saw his face, her smile and her eyes wider. They somehow looked every little bit like the engaged couple they were supposed to be, although they hadn’t known each other for a long time.

The boy went over to her and ruffled her hair. “Didn’t I just tell you that?”

“Hey my hair-“

“Is already a mess. What did you do in the woods? Is that a twig?”

Then, Shikamaru turned around to acknowledge him again, a slightly smug look on his face. “I’m sure you didn’t know what hit you, right?” Instead of replying, Kakashi focused his eyes on Naruto.

“You’ll be hearing of me.” Although he was quick to disappear, he could still hear Naruto’s “Till later Kakashi-sensei!”

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How did you feel about 9?


	10. 10

**.**

“Can you believe that? I’ll be making _official_ missions, as an _official_ ninja. That’s so cool!” Naruto had been gushing about her new promotion since they left the training field. Shikamaru wouldn’t ever admit it out loud, but he found it adorable how she constantly kept on fumbling with her hitai-ate, looking up, as if trying to spot it on her forehead.

“Being a shinobi is heavily overrated,” he grumbled instead. She rolled her eyes. “Why am I not surprised that you said that?” But she didn’t look annoyed or offended, but rather amused. She giggled. Shikamaru smiled.

“But it was good of you to figure out the purpose of the test. The information was vital, and without it, you wouldn’t have managed to pass, even if you would’ve gotten the bells on your own.” She glowed in response to his comment and turned her head upwards to watch the slowly darkening sky.

“And I already have a new sensei! That’s so awesome; I thought I’d be on my own for a while.” He furrowed his brows. “What is it?”

“I just wonder why Tsunade chose Kakashi. Whether she had a particular reason for it.” She shrugged only.

“Don’t know. Hope he isn’t that late the next time we meet, though.”

.

After that, he got to see Naruto more and more seldom. Often, she was out of the house so early that she didn’t even got to wake Shikamaru up. Most of that time, she spent training with Kakashi. Shikamaru was annoyed and more distant during this period, but he didn’t even notice that himself, till Asuma-sensei asked him that on a mission.

Apart from him and Asuma-sensei, Kiba Inuzuka and Sakura Haruno also took part in the mission. Although he thought Kiba to be too annoying and stupid at times, he could actually halfway stand him. With Sakura however, he did not ever have much contact. In Academy, she had been just one of many girls that swooned over Sasuke Uchiha. Most of these girls, or at least those who got to understand the reality of being a shinobi, had grown out of their habits, but Sakura never did. He didn’t know whether it was because she was honestly in love with him or just couldn’t mature. Sure, she was smart- no, he corrected himself, she was hard-working. In their Academy days, she wasn’t on the top of their classes because she was particularly intelligent like Shikamaru had been, but rather because she was diligent and ambitious. That was the reason she had become the best medic-nin of their generation and was taking part in this mission.

It was classified as an A-rank, which had resulted in Tsunade choosing ninjas who were individually experts in their fighting methods. Their goal was to deal with a nuke-nin from Suna, who had been harassing villages on the edge of the Land of Fire. Night had fallen after they had spent the whole day running through the woods, but all apart from Kiba were still awake.

“You should both go to sleep. You’ll need all the strength you can get tomorrow.” The smoke of Asuma-sensei’s cigarette gave off a comfortingly familiar smell. Still he didn’t answer. He didn’t feel like talking, or sleeping, for that matter.

“I’d like to take the first shift.” Sakura’s voice was low and on looking more closely, she probably hadn’t slept much for more than one day. Probably since they got the mission, he mused. Missions involving nuke-nins couldn’t awake too good memories.

Asuma-sensei sighed exasperatedly. “You kids…” Then he focused his eyes on Shikamaru. “What about you? Why is it that you’ve been sulking since weeks?”

The Nara heir seized into his pants pocket. “It’s nothing.” He furrowed his brows, frustrated that he couldn’t find the moss agate, when his fingers itched to play with the smooth surface.

“What is it?” His teacher looked slightly concerned.

“Nothing, just - I forgot something.” The older man looked at him oddly.

“Really though, you haven’t been quite yourself since some time, Shikamaru.”

In response, he only shrugged and turned to watch the sky. “Hasn’t Kakashi got missions to take care of?” Asuma-sensei and Sakura seemed confused at the sudden change of topic. “Why are you asking?” the man inquired.

Shikamaru shrugged. “Naruto has barely time these days. Spends it all training with him.”

“Naruto? You mean your…” The expression on Sakura’s face was curious.

“My fiancé,” Shikamaru spoke out what she was hesitant to voice loudly. He didn’t feel uncomfortable referring to Naruto that way anymore. There was silence then and they resumed to staring at the flames that burned in the centre of the loose circle formation they sat in.

“Wake me up when my shift begins then,” Sakura mumbled and stood up to stumble to her sleeping place. Once she was gone, Asuma-sensei groaned and inhaled deeply from his cigarette. “Who would’ve thought that we’d be having a talk about women, Shikamaru… ” His student wryly raised an eyebrow at the other man’s comment. “Not me. Also,” he turned from his sensei to watch the flames again, “This isn’t about women, but about Kakashi.”

Asuma rolled his eyes. “Didn’t know you developed a habit of denial.”

“I’m not-“

“I’m beginning to think you haven’t realized it yourself,” the man interrupted, “How much you’ve changed since she arrived in Konoha.” Shikamaru didn’t fully comprehend that comment and resumed to listening. “I mean, of course, you’re still the Shikamaru we know, but…” the man breathed in smoke, searching for the right words, “You’re infatuated with her. Almost always lost in thought, and I’m pretty sure that I know who’s up in your head all that time.”

Shikamaru shrugged. Did he think about Naruto often? He guessed he was. How couldn’t he with Naruto being who she was?

Asuma sighed. “Of all the ways I predicted this engagement to develop, this wasn’t even on my list, not even on the very bottom. Whatever.” Now the cigarette only was a stump which caused the smoker to throw it into the fire. “To come back to your actual question, I think Kakashi took some time off with his missions to train Naruto.”

“That much I figured. I was wondering why.”

Asuma rolled his eyes at the uncharacteristic impatience. As if it wasn’t even surprising him anymore. “My prediction? The chunin-exams next week. I didn’t see her fight, but judging who her previous sensei was, I’m pretty sure she’s above genin level. That’s probably why Kakashi wants her to take part in the exams.”

That only made a little sense. “Why not just participate in the next? The chunin-exams are frequent enough.”

“This time they’re in Konoha, though”, Asuma said curtly. It made Shikamaru focus his gaze on the man. “Naruto doesn’t need home advantage. She’s older and her skills are well above the one of a regular genin. Why does Kakashi want her to take part in these exams?”

Sighing, the man evaded his gaze and searched in his pocket for a new cigarette. Triumphantly, he stuck it between his lips, and only when it was lit up and he had inhaled the first smoke, he answered Shikamaru. “My guess is that not only Kakashi, but also Tsunade-sama is behind that. Probably… because they don’t want the other villages to catch wind of her. Although these exams are open to all villages, the higher-ups probably don’t want her fuinjutsu skills to get widely known. We’re at times of peace, but the element of surprise is always a handy military advantage.”

Shikamaru frowned at that. He knew that that wasn’t the full answer and certainly not the capacity of Asuma-sensei’s knowledge. “Even if the other nations knew that we had a seal master, it wouldn’t help them much. They can’t prepare themselves for her attacks, since Naruto creates most of these seals on her own anyway.” His gaze was piercing. “I know that you – my father, the Hokage, Kakashi, and the council – are hiding something. You know something about Naruto that you aren’t telling me.” Shikamaru could watch how Asuma-sensei tried to hide his surprise and took another drag of the cigarette. “But that’s alright. I will find everything out on my own, eventually.” After all, it would spoil the fun of solving a riddle if someone just straight-out told you the solution.

.

It was almost night time when they returned to Konoha. The mission had been successful, but Shikamaru had taken a deep cut to the side of his waist. It was far from fatal and since they had a skilled medic-nin, not even particularly dangerous. But it still managed to hinder his movements and hurt like a bitch. But when they approached the all too familiar gates, he momentarily forgot the pain when he spotted the slight form of a girl whose sunny-blonde hair could be distinguished even though it was dark. The moon let her normally bronze skin tone appear fair. The picture made him smile.

.

When they neared the gates close enough to discern individuals, the change in Shikamaru had been apparent. All the time throughout the trip, he was grumbling about his injury or enduring it in an obviously bad mood, but suddenly, he stopped and relaxed. Now Sakura wasn’t in close contact to him, but their generation practically grew up together, so she could spot unusual differences if they presented themselves. Asuma only chuckled amusedly and muttered something under his breath. Curious about what had provoked the sudden change of behaviour, she steered ahead and tried to spot what they had noticed.

There was only one girl leaning against the wall. As they approached further, more features could be distinguished and Sakura realized that she was unfamiliar with her. From far, Sakura could see that the strange girl had wavy blonde hair that curled even more at the ends. She was short, but well proportioned, with a bust size much bigger than Sakura’s, but not quite as wide as Hinata’s. The pink haired girl couldn’t decide whether the blonde had big hips, or her wasp waist only made it look like that.

“What’re you doing here?” Shikamaru asked, his voice slightly amused. It was so strange that it made Sakura turn in his direction. She almost startled. The look on his face was unusually soft and happy. The girl laughed.

“Waiting for you, of course! Tsunade said you were scheduled to return today.”

She shortly bowed with her head, acknowledging the rest of them. “Hello Asuma-sensei, Kiba-kun,” and then her gaze landed on Sakura, the smile on her face open and friendly. “Hey, I’m Naruto”, she said, and suddenly all of this made much more sense. Before her, stood Shikamaru’s fiancé. “I’m Sakura. Nice to meet you.” The other girl seemed to want to retort something, but suddenly her smile died down and her azure eyes focused on something next to her. Shikamaru.

“Are you injured?” Her voice took a turn of hundred eighty degree. The warmth was gone and replaced by a hard expression.

“Nah, only a scratch. Can’t even feel it.” Sakura’s eyes threatened to boggle at the blatant lie. Then again, the way Shikamaru was looking at Naruto, he may have really forgotten about his pain. She tried to smile, because, God, was that cute. As soon as she came home, she had to phone Ino. Her best friend was updating her regularly with gossip, so Sakura would only be returning a courtesy.

“But it bleeds.” Naruto stepped closer to touch the side of his waist with her fingers. When she pulled them back, they were coated by a thin sheen of red.

“The cut must have opened itself,” Sakura supplied.

The blonde girl looked at her and at Shikamaru till she settled on her fiancé’s face. “We should go to the hospital.”

Shikamaru opened his mouth, in what she supposed to be refusal, when she decided to step in. “Naruto’s right, Shikamaru. Let the wound be cleaned again and let them change the bandages. They’ll probably give you some painkillers, too. It wouldn’t even take you half an hour.”

Naruto smiled, as if trying to persuade a child. “Look? It isn’t so bad. Come on, I’ll come with you, just to make sure everything’s okay.”

Shikamaru grumbled lightly, but he let himself be swayed by her. Just about to leave, he looked back one last time towards Asuma, the leader of this mission’s team. “Go. We’ll manage to report to Hokage-sama on our own.” The Nara heir nodded slightly in acknowledgement, while his future wife waved energetically. “See you around!”

.

The hospital had been thankfully empty so that they didn’t have to wait long for the doctor to look over his wounds. When the man had arrived in the examination room, he’d first looked confusedly to discern who the patient was, till he finally picked up his files to read the information on his patient.

Shikamaru couldn’t blame him. Although he was the one who’d freshly returned from a mission, Naruto didn’t look very well herself. Not only did she have a fair share of scratches, but also her clothes were torn and dirty at many places. Lost in mind, he mustered them. They were actually pretty unusual for her standards. No flowery dresses, but black, functional shorts with many pockets that reached her mid-thigh, a simple, but tight black top, and a loose neon-orange jacket. But even though what she wore was undoubtedly ruined, she still managed to look good in it.

“Nara-san, if you would please remove your clothing to the point I can examine your wound,” the doctor’s voice interrupted his thoughts. He wondered how often the man had repeated his sentence while he was in thought. Just as he was about to react, Naruto stepped up, and before he could lift a finger, she stood in front of him, and zipped his vest down.

“He is exhausted, since he just came from a mission,” she explained the doctor. They probably thought he hit his head or something. Although, nothing close to that happened, he let Naruto strip his upper part of the body. Her nimble fingers were gentle and sending shivers up his skin when she touched him without the barrier of the fabric. Then, she made a face and let out a hiss. He turned his head to look at his wound she was undoubtedly watching. It sure looked a lot worse with the bloody and partly torn bandages covering it.

The doctor approached him even further and ducked his head to look at the mess on his skin, as well. Then, he started to remove the bandages. “You might better want to lie down. The more relaxed your muscles are, the better I can do my job, and the less pain you’ll feel.” He moved to get some cotton pads and disinfectant. “Do you want something to ease your pain, Nara-san?” Any other day he’d have said yes. But painkillers would make him drowsy and assured an early sleep. Sleep seemed like a waste of time, now that Naruto wasn’t training and could stay with him. Shortly, he asked himself whether he had _really_ hit his head without noticing, because, since when was sleeping a waste of time? Still, he answered, “No,” curtly.

Naruto furrowed her brows at that. “Can you still give us some? Maybe he’ll change his mind back at home.” The doctor nodded and moistened the cotton pads with the disinfectant. Shikamaru simply lied down and let the doctor do his work while watching Naruto watching him with a worried glance. She looked so honest and open while displaying her emotions, that he found it harder to entertain the idea that she might be acting. His mind asked him, whether he only _wanted_ to believe that because he actually _liked_ the fact that Naruto was concerned about him.

“Some stitches will be necessary”, the doctor stated after close inspection of the now clean wound. “But it’s a clean cut and if you don’t move too much in the next days, it should heal just fine. Still I’ll give you a salve that should fasten the process and put some fresh bandages on.” The man started searching for said bandages in some cupboards and returned to continue his job. “They should be changed regularly, though.” He stopped moving his hands in favour of looking at Naruto. “Can I trust you do that Nara-san?” At the first moment, Shikamaru thought that the guy mixed their names up, but then the blonde girl started stuttering. “Oh, em… no, my name’s still Uzumaki.” She embarrassedly scratched her head. “The marriage is still months away.” Oh.

The expression on the man’s face was surprised and he sheepishly alternately looked between them. “I apologize. It might seem unprofessional, but bored nurses often gossip, and I sometimes can’t help but listen.” So they still were a hot topic?

“Anyway, I can change the bandages just fine.” The doctor nodded, satisfied with Naruto’s response. “Here’s the prescription for some light painkillers.”

.

When they arrived home, Shikamaru tiredly collapsed on the couch. “Do you know where my father is?” He wasn’t surprised about his mother’s absence since she went to visit her sister who lived in a village close to Konoha. The Nara matriarch had already departed before Shikamaru’s mission started and would only return tomorrow. His father , however, was supposed to be home. “Something about going to the bar with his friends,” Naruto murmured absentmindedly. That didn’t surprise Shikamaru in the slightest. The older man probably tried to amuse himself while his wife was gone.

“I’ll go draw you a bath,” Naruto interrupted his thoughts and before he could retort, she was already gone. She was back about ten minutes later to be greeted with Shikamaru’s slightly raised eyebrow. “I am not fully incapacitated,” he told her, but his fiancé would have none of it. “The doctor wanted you not to move too much.”

With that she steered him towards the bathroom. To his surprise tub threatened to overflow with the bubbles that hindered him from seeing what lay under them. There was probably essential oil in it too, judging the scent of coconuts that lightly filled the air. He laughed silently. Too hard laughing hurt his side. “I’m not a child, you know.” But she only smiled, as if telling a secret and stated, “You don’t have to be a child to get the opportunity to feel good.”

Then she motioned to the upper part of his body. “Lift your shirt.”

Confused he could only react with a “What?”

She rolled her eyes in response. “I have to place this special, giant band-aid thingy, so the wound doesn’t get wet.”

“When did you get that?”

“The doctor gave it with the painkillers. You want a pill now?”

“No.”

After she placed the thing on his wound and effectively sealed it from the environment, she moved to the door. “I’ll be in the other bathroom, taking a shower. Don’t drown on me, alright?” Her tone was only half joking, and Shikamaru almost felt bad that she believed him to be so injured that he couldn’t even manage to stay alive.

But soon he forgot these thoughts, when he was sitting in the tub and tried to wash his hair. He could only use his left arm, since taking the other one to help, pulled at the muscles of his right side where the injury lay. But washing his hair with only one hand was apparently very hard and too damn tiring. He sighed. Troublesome. After that, he decided to only wash his body and let the hair be, he could do it another time. With that goal, he relaxed his tired muscles and lied back, inhaling the soothing scents.

“Shikamaru?” Naruto was peeking through the little gap of the unclosed door. “Aren’t you finished? I was honestly starting to think that you’ve drowned.”

“Yeah, I’m done.”

She skeptically raised an eyebrow. “But there is still foam in your hair!”

“Washing it strains my wound.” Instantly, Naruto’s face softened and Shikamaru felt a little guilty for causing her worry. Then, she fully moved into the room and approached him, or rather the space behind him. There was rustling and suddenly, there was water being casted over his hair, wetting the little bit that had dried. Before he could react, Naruto grabbed the shampoo bottle and put some of the contents on his head and started massaging his scalp. He didn’t ask what she was doing as it was quite obvious and he believed that more often than not, her actions weren’t comprehendible anyway. Apart from that, the sensation of thin fingers running in circles on his head was so relaxing that it made him loose the muscles he didn’t knew he was tensing. Completely leaning back, he was drowsy with that sensation. He chuckled lowly.

“Maybe I should get injured more often.”

There was a sharp, but playful flick on the back of his neck. “Don’t you dare.” The tone was again, only half joking.

He closed his eyes as she returned to the gentle movements again. “If I had known that this is what marriage is like, I would have insisted on marrying you much sooner.”

She laughed. “You wish.”

.

When he leaned back in his bed, comfortable like he hadn’t been in some time, Naruto started putting on the bandages. Somewhere in his mind, he tried to remind himself that he shouldn’t completely relax in the proximity of a person he couldn’t fully trust, but in his current state, it was ridiculously easy to shut that part out.

“I’ll go make you something to eat.” With that, Naruto left the room.

As soon as she exited, he leaned over his bed to reach for the night stand. Pulling out the cupboard, he luckily spotted what he was searching for: Naruto’s moss agate with the string still drawn through it. If he concentrated enough, he could still sense the faint remains of her chakra resting in it. Determined, he pulled both ends of the string in each hand and reached it around his neck to tie it together. The slight, but unfamiliar weight felt strange. Without pondering it further, he stuck the gem underneath his shirt, were it became almost invisible to his environment. Naruto’s present felt like a secret. He had only shown it to Choji once, and even Naruto herself hadn’t asked what he had done with her gift. The cold stone against his bare skin warmed up gradually, as he grabbed it to play absentmindedly with it.

After what felt like half hour, Naruto was back with a tray of what looked like chicken soup. Eating in bed. Whoever thought that being injured was troublesome, either was a complete idiot, or they didn’t have a Naruto Uzumaki in their life.

“So,” he started, while sipping alternately from the soup. It was good. “Since when do you have so much free time to spare?”

She sighed and moved to sit on his left side of the bed. She looked exhausted. “Yesterday, Kakashi-sensei told me that the chunin-exams are coming up next week. I know he wants me to take part, although he insists that it is solely my ‘Independent decision’.”

“What about you?”

Her voice morphed into a determined, if slightly grim expression. “Yes. I know that I can do it. So I _will_ do it. That’s also what I told sensei. Therefore he doesn’t want to train me that hard this week, only chakra control exercises. We don’t want me to enter the exams with an injury.”

Finishing his soup he relaxed and turned to look at her. “If you’ll pass, I’m pretty that you would slowly get assigned for missions.”

Her face brightened and removed the seriousness. “We could go on missions together, Shikamaru!” Then, she slowly smirked foxily. “And then, you’ll find out, just how much you can trust me.”

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And? What did you think of 10?


	11. 11

**.**

After that night, Shikamaru’s wounds healed gradually. Although he would have been satisfied with lazing around while being in Naruto’s presence, his fiancé insisted on visiting the doctor regularly. About two days after his return, she finally went out to search for Kakashi to let him know about taking part on the chunin exams.

When the wound had stopped hurting and didn’t impair him as much as it did before, he appointed a meeting with the Hokage. Luckily, he was given a date on a short notice. When that day arrived and he finally entered her office, he was presented with the view of the Godaime frustratedly scribbling down her signature and filling out forms. With the exams coming up, she probably had more work to do than usual.

“Shikamaru,” she greeted him, when she finally looked up from her stack of papers. In response, he nodded in acknowledgement. “Is there something you need?” she inquired, getting straight to the point.

“I would like to take part as a supervisor in the upcoming chunin exams.” The request was simple and it should be relieving for the organizer of this international event to have an additional helping and competent hand. But Tsunade’s gaze only hardened, before shaking her head resolutely.

“That’s completely impossible.”

He raised an eyebrow but was careful to keep his voice unaffected. “Why?”

The Hokage sighed before leaning back into her chair. Suddenly it seemed as if the work from the past weeks seemed to take an effect on her. “Isn’t that obvious? You’re biased, thus not able to judge the happenings objectively.”

“You know that I always have kept a cool head without becoming partisan.”

Now s _he_ raised an eyebrow. “Yes, that was indeed always the case. At least before you met Naruto.”

“It has nothing-“

“Oh please, “ she chuckled, “this is _all_ about Naruto; nowadays everything you do seems to be. I don’t know what’s more surprising: that you fell for her so quickly, or that you didn’t even notice that you did. I believed you to be more perceptive than that”

Shikamaru was stunned silent. Besides, the analytical part of his brain argued, even if he tried to defend himself now, it would only come off as if he was in denial. Which he totally wasn’t. And he absolutely didn’t harbour _that_ kind of feelings towards Naruto, for that matter. He was pretty sure about that. _Wan’t he?_

Tsunade sighed. “Go home Shikamaru. Because I’m so considerate towards teenage love, you won’t even be assigned for a mission at the time of the final battles.”

He didn’t answer and quickly left after giving a short bow.

.

After that talk with the Hokage two things happened while he was lying on his bed in his room: One, he beat himself up over coming with such a request to Tsunade in the first place. Two, he tried to convince himself that what she had said was entirely false, or a huge misunderstanding on her part.

Although he was quite sure that he didn’t have _that_ kind of feelings for Naruto, he had to admit that he was not a good judge do decide over that, considering he had no experience to speak of. Since he never felt that way for anyone, he wasn’t in the position to decide over that matter, because he didn’t know what it felt like to _like_ someone that way.

That meant that he direly needed an outsider’s opinion. His mind immediately supported him with Asuma-sensei’s and Choji’s names. Anyone else wouldn’t be able to keep the matter to themselves (Ino), or he felt even more uncomfortable to talk with about that matter (his parents), or he plainly didn’t trust them.

Thoughtfully he seized into his pants pocket, only to realize that he couldn’t find his favourite plaything there. Contemplatively, his fingers wandered to the hem of his shirt, where they pulled the gem out by the string that was tied around his neck.

“Shikamaru!” He almost startled when he heard Naruto’s loud, scratchy voice suddenly call out his name. When he looked up, she was standing at the door swell with her hand on the knob. “Dinner is ready, aren’t you coming?” He watched her hair and her eyes - her most outstanding features, before travelling his eyes downwards to the rest of her skin, to her long legs that were halfway covered by a mint green dress. Yes, he found her beautiful. But you didn’t have to harbour _that_ kind of feelings towards Naruto to find her attractive.

He imagined how it would feel like to touch her at places he normally wouldn’t, at places only lovers would touch each other, and before he could control himself, he sensed the blood rush through his veins. It was humming to the rhythm of his heart forcefully and irregularly beating against his chest.

“Shikamaru?” She approached him, and finally sat down on the side of the bed. There was a worried crease on her forehead. He reached out to even the skin out. It was soft. “Where’s your headband?”

“Took it off, since I’m at home.” He let his hand fall back again. “Is everything alright?”

“Hmm.”

“What does _that_ mean?”

Before he’d have to search for a passable excuse, something else seemed to steal the blonde’s attention away. “So you kept it?” Her gaze focused on his chest where she was mustering the necklace with unhidden glee.

“You thought I wouldn’t?” he asked while trying to appear nonchalant. For some reason, he didn’t want her to know how many hours he had sat and just stared at her little gift to contemplate its meaning. With him being so obsessed with her, she was already in a position of great power. There was only risk in letting her know of that power.

“You didn’t wear it, so how would I know?” She moved her fingers to grasp the gem that hung around his neck, and slowly caressed it. The weight of her hand felt so comfortable and warm against his clothes, that he caught himself wishing that she’d keep it there for a while. Just a moment after, he stiffened slightly. Did that really just cross his mind? What the hell was up with him? But before he could silently freak out any further, Naruto’s voice interrupted his thought process.

“Do you like it?” Her eyes were apprehensive, as she moved her gaze from the moss agate to his face.

“Hmm.” It was a non-committing sound, neither a _yes_ , nor a _no_ , but more of a grunt than anything else. But Naruto didn’t comment on his vague answer.

“I think it fits you oddly well. Strange, if you consider that I didn’t know you, when I sent it.”

Before he could come up with a retort, Yoshino’s voice cut through the air, calling them both to dinner.

“Let’s go eat.” Swiftly, he grabbed her little, slender hand in his, and sat up to lead her out of the room. God damn him for liking how right it felt to have that sort of contact with her.

.

He’d chosen Asuma-sensei to advice him, simply because he had more life experience and could be a bigger help than Choji. After dinner departed and searched through the bars in the hopes of finding him. Sure enough, in the third bar at the corner table he could spot the back of his teacher. But sitting in front of him was Kurenai. Just when he was preparing to leave them alone, since he didn’t want to blurt in on whatever date they were having, Kurenai stood up. On closer inspection, she looked pretty angry and when she started talking, her face morphing into an ireful grimace, he could imagine the tirade she was giving his teacher. Man, he really didn’t want to be in sensei’s place right now. In a matter of seconds, the woman had exited the booth and stomped towards the door he was standing in front of. Grumbling, she went pass without acknowledging him.

Well, at least he could talk to Asuma-sensei now. A smirk on his face, he casually dragged himself in the direction of the man, before sitting on the bank that Kurenai had been occupying.

“Trouble?” Shikamaru tried to sound as neutral as possible and not to appear smug, since he needed constructive advice, and it wouldn’t help to annoy Asuma-sensei even further. But the man had already stuck a freshly lit cigarette in his mouth, an exasperated look on his face. After inhaling very deeply, he let the smoke out while grumbling “Women…”

It was a good point for Shikamaru to pick up on. “Why are you still behind her if she is so troublesome?” Asuma-sensei raised his eyebrows as if hearing that question for the very first time. Maybe he was.

“Isn’t that obvious? I like her. Why else would I go chasing her around? It’s not like I have nothing better to do.” Shikamaru was careful to tear his eyes off the man to gaze at the glass on the table. In the background there was the buzzing of people talking, drinking and laughing.

“How do you know you like her _that_ way? Maybe you just like her… in a friendly way. How could you distinguish it?” Since he wasn’t watching the man, he didn’t know what expression he was making, but after some moments there was chuckling to be heard.

“I’m pretty sure about that. You know you like somebody in a romantic sense, “ and now he stressed his voice strangely as if he knew (which he most probably did) that Shikamaru didn’t ask out of pure interest, but for own purposes - “when you think of them constantly, sometimes at the most absurd moments, even though you didn’t want to and there’s no particular reason to. When, you want to be a better person, at least towards the one you like, and put effort into your behaviour towards them. You step out of your comfort zone, to try to please them, and you even feel satisfied by the end of it.”

Shikamaru held back a groan. He’d be an idiot to deny the fact that his mind was on Naruto most of the time. But did he put that much effort into their relationship and went as far as stepping out of his comfort zone?

“What if just some of the criteria are fulfilled?” It was almost absurd how he kept talking about the matter as if it was only a theoretical problem and didn’t apply to him. Shikamaru knew that Asuma-sensei knew that Shikamaru knew that Asuma-sensei knew about the truth. A headache was starting to bloom in the back of his head. It made him remember how Naruto had massaged his scalp with her nimble fingers when she was washing his hair. Would she do that more often once they were married?

“I’m guessing you’re not referring to the ‘thinking of her all the time’ part,” his teacher interrupted his thoughts wryly. Shikamaru caught himself embarrassingly scratching his head. Damn, he’d been pondering about Naruto again.

When he looked up, he could spot his teacher’s smug face smirking before softening into a smile. “Anyway,” the man continued, “Are you sure that the other criteria aren’t being fulfilled?” The pretenses about what this whole matter was about were gradually dropping.

Shikamaru contemplated shortly. “I think so.”

“Then think again.”

The student slightly raised his eyebrows at the man’s insistence. Never the less, he obliged and pondered further about that matter. Sure, he could admit that his schedule had changed slightly since Naruto had arrived. He woke up a little earlier and sometimes took walks with her through the village. But he didn’t perceive it something major. “I’m pretty sure there is no enormous effort or even stepping out of comfort zone involved,” he decided on settling.

Asuma-sensei’s answer was an eye roll. “Teenagers…,” he grumbled, before taking a drag of his cigarette. “Shikamaru, when was the last time you saw me?”

The Nara frowned. What was that question’s purpose? “Just earlier this week.”

His teacher hummed and nodded. “And for what purpose?”

“We had a mission.”

“Exactly. And when was the time before that we saw each other?”

Shikamaru tried to awaken his memories, although he was skeptical of the goal of this conversation. “Three weeks ago. A mission, again.”

The older man nodded once more. “I could ask you the same question again but your answer would be a similar one. We either see each other on missions, or our ways shortly pass in the village while you’re hanging out with Naruto-chan.” The man’s expression turned a tad more serious. “Shikamaru, you don’t realize how much time you spend with her. That’s so uncharacteristic of you, that I can only deduct that you’re putting effort into your actions and stepping out of your comfort zone.”

If the man’s student would have been anything less than a Nara, his mind would have been a mess by now. Instead, there was one major problem the teenager detected in his teacher’s reasoning. “But it never felt troublesome. It doesn’t come off as work to spend time with her.”

“Sometimes the work we do for the person we like, doesn’t seem taxing because we become happy by seeing them happy.” Asuma-sensei shrugged and took another drag of his cigarette which by now, was only a stump. “You normally don’t like undertaking much, going out, or spending that amount of time with someone as talkative as Naruto-chan. However, the fact that you do those things with her while enjoying yourself, only leads to one conclusion.”

This time, Shikamaru _did_ groan and put his head in his hands. He trusted Asuma-sensei’s assessment and his reasoning was sensible, which made this conclusion pretty convincing. That only left one massive problem to be solved: “What now?”

The older man laughed loudly, before stopping the waitress to get them both some sake. Shikamaru quizzically raised one eyebrow. “That’s your solution? Getting me drunk?”

“Hey, I’m not doing anything. You don’t have to do much either. Your relationship has been a good one until now, no?”

Shikamaru shrugged. It still felt uncomfortable talking about it. “I guess.”

“Then just keep it going and just be yourself, and all that; because, for God knows what reason, Naruto-chan seems to be quite taken with you.”

Suddenly, he shot his head up. “What?” Naruto? Taken with him? Did that mean she liked him that way, too?

Asuma-sensei rolled his eyes really hard. “For God’s sake, don’t tell me you haven’t noticed? _I_ am aware of it, and I don’t spend nearly as time with her as you do.”

“Yes, I do spend a lot of time with her, which assures me in my assessment that you’re mistaken. I would have noticed if she… if she would…” He found himself unable to finish the sentence.

“Kids…” The older man grumbled, but before he could comment any further, the waitress arrived with glasses and the sake. After filling their glasses to the brim and drowning it right away in one go, he finally resumed on speaking. “So in all the time you spent with her, you didn’t find it slightly peculiar, how she always blushes when you give her compliments?”

“Maybe she is just the sort of person to get worked up over something like that.”

The man snorted. “Don’t tell me, for all your analytical, observing Nara-ness, you didn’t perceive that she only ever does that with you?” Shikamaru had no answer to that. “Or how she stares at you all the time, when you’re with her. Ino hasn’t been shutting up about how she drones on about you when they’re meeting up among girls.” For the lack of a fitting comment, he took a great sip of his own glass. “Please say, you were at least aware of the fact that starts fumbling around with her hair and her clothes when you look at her. That’s so obvious – “ The man interrupted himself and groaned. Then, he filled his and Shikamaru’s glass again, while shaking his head disbelievingly. “You didn’t. I guess even you Naras can’t be perfect.”

Now normally Shikamaru would analyze their conversation, its sequence, the outcomes, the meanings for the future in order to judge accordingly what would be the best action to take from now on. But at the moment the only thing he could think and say was: “I need another drink.”

.

That night he didn’t know what time it was, but it must have been at least well after 2am, when he returned home. But he was pretty sure he wasn’t drunk, just very, very slightly tipsy. He didn’t feel impaired concerning his instincts, could walk just fine, and his speech was just the same as always. Still, he was a little more… outspoken and… courageous, then he would’ve normally allowed himself to be. Probably because he normally didn’t drink the amount of alcohol that only just got Asuma-sensei into a mood.

But although he was drunk (alright, he admitted it, but only a tiny bit), he was still a ninja, so Asuma-sensei wouldn’t have to accompany him home. Yet he did and Shikamaru afterwards wished that the man wouldn’t have done that. The whole night he had been going on about Naruto, how she constantly confused and surprised him, how it didn’t annoy but only intrigue and charm him. The short trip from the bar to his home had been no different. But although it relieved him to finally talk to someone about what had been troubling him since some time, he knew he’d be incredibly embarrassed afterwards to have spoken about it.

Yet when they arrived home, Shikamaru didn’t focus on that fact. Instead, his mind was still one singular topic. Damn him. “You think Naruto’s still awake?”

Although he was focusing on the building in front of him, he could spot his teacher rolling with his eyes. “How the hell should I know? You’re the one living with her. Though why she’d be up at this hour is beyond me.” Shikamaru only sighed but Asuma didn’t seem to care much about his dismay. “You can go the rest of the way on your own. I’ve no interest in being confronted with the wrath of Yoshino Nara.”

Somewhere on the back of his mind, he acknowledged how the man put a hand on his shoulder before turning around and leaving, but suddenly all he could think of at that moment was how pissed his mom was going to be that he had been up all night without giving her notice, only to return slightly intoxicated.

“Shit,” he muttered, “What now?” Mentally he drew a plan of his home. If he’d enter through the front door, he first had to pass his parents’ bedroom to get to his own. The problem was, if his mother’s mind wasn’t at ease she could be very alert while sleeping. Of course he could enter the house through the window of the kitchen, but there was a garden he first had to trample if he wanted to get access to it and he didn’t want to explain to his mother tomorrow (technically today) how exactly _that_ had happened. Another possible entrance would be, - his mind halted – Naruto’s room. To be honest there were still some other entrances that could be used without alerting his family, but he couldn’t convince himself to even consider them. His mind was quickly losing to his instincts, which may or may not be a courtesy of the sake he drank earlier, and his instincts were demanding to entrance his home through his fiancé’s window.

Before he could bring himself to sense, he was already starting to steer towards the destined place stealthily. Soon the window was easily opened, and suddenly he found himself standing in Naruto’s room.

The girl was lying in bed, breathing peacefully. The moonlight that shone through the still open window illuminated her face and hair that was splayed across the pillow. Although he knew that he should better make his way to his room, he just couldn’t tear his gaze of her features. As if in trance, he stepped towards the girl, and before he could control himself, he was leaning over her. He was so close to her that he could feel her slow, regular exhales on his own face. Slowly, he mustered her. The long lashes, the cute button nose, the full lips. It was impossible for him to resist caressing her cheek with one hand. But as soon as his flesh met hers, blue, wide orbs opened. They were panicky and frantic at first, before frowning confusedly.

“Shikamaru??” Her voice was merely a whisper. “What are you doing?” He shrugged because he honestly had no idea himself. Instead, he watched her eyebrows draw together before lifting herself slightly up to approach his face even further.

“Are you drunk?” It dawned on him that she only came closer to smell him.

“No.”

She raised an eyebrow. “You stink. Of sake.”

He sighed and finally sat on the side of her bed. “What’re you doing?” Naruto’s speech sounded more drunk than his, with how slurred it was from her interrupted sleep. Then she turned around. “You got in from the window?” He hummed in response. “Why?”

“Didn’t want my mother to catch me.”

She rolled her eyes which were slightly starting to droop. “Anyway, I’m sleeping. You staying, or leaving?”

As a response, he started to shed his vest before doing the same to the jacket underneath, till he only remained in his fishnet top and pants. Suddenly, he felt very sleepy, too, and he wasn’t in the mood to go to his own room. Although it was a very sleazy thing to do, he’d play it off in the morning as being more intoxicated than he actually was. But at that moment, when he slid underneath the covers, the last thing he wanted to think of, were the consequences of his actions. For once, Shikamaru only wanted to act, give in to his instincts, without analyzing the situation first. He’d probably regret it later, but now, he couldn’t care less.

That was why instead of just lying where he was, like the first time they had slept in one bed, he moved closer to Naruto.

“What are you doing dumbass?” Her tone was flustered, which he found oddly charming.

“Sleeping.” However his voice was calm, as if he was laying so close to her every night. Yes, the alcohol certainly heightened his courage to unknown levels. Whether this fact was to be applauded, he didn’t want to ponder further.

“I can see that dummy, but there’s more place in the bed, you know.”

“But I want to lie here.”

“Why?”

“Can’t I?” Although he couldn’t see her, he knew she was frowning. “Aren’t we engaged?”

A snort. “Yeah, and you’re drunk.”

Shikamaru knew for sure then, that whatever he would do now, he wouldn’t be hold accountable for it, as Naruto clearly thought him not to be certifiably sane. So when he had the sudden urge to throw an arm over her waist and scoot even closer, he decided to just _go_ with it, because opportunities like that don’t just present themselves all the time.

“Hey, what are you- Shikamaru?” He just had to chuckle at the yelp of her voice. It made him silly. Why he poised himself over her to tickle her belly then, he wouldn’t ever know. “Stop, that tickles!” Although she tried to suppress her giggles, they were clear for him to hear, and made him laugh lowly in return.

“Shikamaru.” Suddenly he froze in his actions. That definitely wasn’t Naruto’s voice that called out his name, but a deep, manly one. For a split moment he focused on his fiancé’s face, or what could be distinguished of her in the dark. She, too, was seemingly unable to move. Mouth open, eyes stretched wide.

Hesitantly, the young Nara turned around to the general direction from where the voice had come from. Although the lights weren’t on, the figure was clearly recognizable to him. There, at the door swell, stood his father Shikaku Nara. Crap.

He was overcome with a slight déjà-vu, remembering the time his mother walked in when he and Naruto had been sleeping in one bed. Now almost the same thing was happening, only that it was much, _much_ worse. With a start some clear part of his mind painted the picture of him, leaning over Naruto in her bed, while having a _lot_ of body contact and being only halfway dressed.

There was a quiet groan coming from the man standing in pyjamas, who started to massage his temples with one hand.

“Out.” His father’s tone was curt and commanding. He shook his head in the direction out of the room, as if to motion him to hurry up and exit that place. Hurriedly, Shikamaru startled to detangle himself from Naruto’s limbs, nervousness, embarrassment and alcohol causing his movements to be clumsy at best. The blonde girl beneath him was equally jumpy and rather ungraceful in her attempts to get him off her. Just when managed to stand up and nearly reached his father, his name was being called out again. When he turned around, he was being met with the vision of his fiancé holding clothes, _his_ clothes that he shed off earlier in her arms. Mortified, but without making a sound, he hurried to receive them while wishing she would’ve just kept them.

The next thing he felt was a wide hand grabbing the back of his neck with so much strength that he was being steered out of the room. Like a child, his father silently directed him to his own room. When they arrived, the hand let go of his neck and allowed Shikamaru to turn around to be faced with the weary, exhausted look of the clan head. If there had been any doubt to what his son’s intentions towards his fiancé had been since the conversation with his wife, they had vanished now. But instead of starting a rant about his behaviour like some other parents would’ve done, the only thing he retorted was, “Brush your teeth and take a shower to get the smell off you.”

.

The next morning, breakfast was uncomfortably quiet. Actually, he didn’t mind silence, but at that moment it was just plain awkward since he knew the reason behind it. At least his father hadn’t told his mother anything about last night, judging the fact that she was acting as always. But Naruto, normally the engine of the conversation, didn’t talk but shuffle around without meeting Shikamaru’s eyes.

Now that he had a clear head, he understood, too. Mortified, didn’t even begin to describe how he felt today. Yet, what bothered him the most, was how he found it impossible to regret what he had done.

“So at what time do you have to be there, Naruto-chan?” His mother asked in another attempt to start a conversation.

“Uhm… Kakashi-sensei said to be there at noon.” For a split moment he was wondering where she was planning to go, when he remembered that today was the beginning of the chunin exams.

“I’m sure you’ll manage, honey.” Since when did she call Naruto ‘ _honey_ ’?

“You will,” Shikaku added while nodding. However his tone was less comforting, but more asserting. “What I am more curious about are the final battles. The Kazekage is supposed come, again.”

Shikamaru’s eyes widened, the topic _Naruto_ momentarily not occupying his mind. The Kazekage was coming after what happened four years ago? After that invasion at the previous chunin exams, relations between Suna and Konoha had been strained at best, and it would rile the people up to receive the head of the Sand village under the same circumstances again.

“Tsunade-sama and the new Kazekage are on good terms and they want to use this opportunity to establish a better relationship between the villages,” the clan head added.

Shikamaru could only groan. “Troublesome…” Nobody commented on it.

“I think I better get going,” Naruto interrupted the short moment of silence. “I had Kakashi-sensei promise me to be on time. I have to be included into a team, too, to take part in the exams.”

When she stood up, so did Shikamaru. “I’ll accompany you,” he said offhandedly while trying to avoid his father’s stare drilling into him.

His mother however, was smiling. “You’re developing manners, Shikamaru! I know this is due to your positive influence, Naruto-chan!” While the girl forced a smile on her face, his father commented his wife’s statement with a “Yes, she does have some influence on him.”

Hurriedly, they started to steer towards the floor and exit the estate, while Yoshino reputedly wished Naruto good luck. When they finally entered the streets and his parents weren’t to be seen anymore, they both let out a sigh of relief.

Then, Naruto laughed. “That was so awkward.”

He couldn’t help but grin. “Yes, it was.” Then, as if in an afterthought, he added, “They’re right, though. I’m sure you’ll manage today.” Her answer was thankful smile.

After ten minutes, they could both spot their destiny in some distance. After searching the area with her eyes, his fiancé let out an exasperated sigh. “He’s late, again.” She looked worried. That expression made an uneasiness develop in his chest.

Before spending much thought on it, he put both hands on each of her shoulders and turned her around. She was close to him, her sea-blue eyes searching for halt. “You will manage just fine. Just remember that sometimes, not everything is at is appears to be. You have to-“

“Look underneath the underneath”, she interrupted.

He nodded. “So don’t let them rile you up, because that’s exactly what they aim to do. Stay calm and don’t doubt yourself.” Suddenly an idea erupted in his head and he reached with his hands behind his neck to untie Naruto’s gift. Without contemplating further, he reached behind his fiancé’s smaller stature, to tie it around her neck instead.

“But-“ her face was confused.

“It helps me focus when I have to think. Maybe it’ll be of use to you, too.”

Suddenly, he felt Naruto’s hands touch his back before pulling him towards her body into a hug. Her grip was tight, her skin warm. “Thank you.” He felt her voice against his chest, as Naruto was too short to reach him any further than that. He couldn’t help but return the hug.

“But I want it back later, alright?”

She laughed.

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eleven was hard to write - How did you feel reading it?


	12. 12

**.**

“Are you done yet? We still have time for a make out session.” Kakashi-sensei’s voice was bored and seemingly uninterested as he spoke. However, Naruto knew exactly that it was simply a ploy to embarrass her about her conversation with Shikamaru.

At first, Naruto had been surprised because Kakashi-sensei had only been ten minutes late. But soon she realized that the man had probably appeared much earlier, judging the fact that he had obviously witnessed Naruto’s and her fiancé’s conversation. But instead of getting worked up (because that’s exactly what Kakashi-sensei wanted to accomplish), she cockily raised an eyebrow and replied with a “Don’t give me ideas, sensei. But I prefer making up with my fiancé without the voyeuristic eyes of my teacher creeping on me.”

For a moment, the man was silent, and she would’ve liked to believe that she had shocked him to a point where he couldn’t make a sound, but soon the crinkle at the corner of one eye appeared that indicated that her teacher was smiling. Fondly, he put one hand on top of her head to ruffle the blonde locks.

“That’s how you have to be out there. Don’t let them get a rise out of you. You have to keep your cool.” Determinedly, she nodded and grinned.

“They won’t know what hit them.”

.

They met the ones who were supposed to be her teammates for the chunin exams, in front of the building where the first part of the test was going to be held.

“Boss! Boss!” Just there, in front of the doors stood Konohamaru and Moegi, wildly waving into their direction. Their appearance caused Naruto to halt in her steps and an unsure smile to spread across her face.

“Don’t tell me…”

Kakashi-sensei shrugged. “Most of these teams you’ll encounter have the advantage of having already worked together. Thus they know each other’s weaknesses and strengths and can plan their strategies accordingly. These kids were the only ones you worked with, apart from me, since you’ve arrived. And as they were one man short… “ He shrugged again.

Naruto laughed. Since that day she had worked together with these kids, they had appeared quite often at her side. Although she had been convinced at that time that Konohamaru was a jerk, she just couldn’t hold a grudge with how he was idolizing her.

“Hey guys! Where’s Udon-kun?” she asked when the children met them halfway. Moegi sighed. “He broke his leg two days ago. We thought we couldn’t take part now that he is incapacitated, but-“

“But then the Kakashi-pervert said that you needed two partners anyway. So here we are!” the boy interrupted.

The grin on Naruto’s face was threatening to split her face. “Good. We’ll kick all of these contestants’ asses,” she stated triumphantly. Konohamaru, swayed by his idol’s positivity, couldn’t contain himself. “They won’t know what hit them!” Even Moegi, who wasn’t as easily susceptible as her teammate, let herself be caught up in the mood, and smiled brightly.

The only one who didn’t ooze with the same enthusiasm was Kakashi-sensei. Seemingly bored, but secretly satisfied, he scratched the back of his head. “Well, it seems it was smart of me to choose these two for you to build a team with. Go on then,” he murmured, watching the high building in front of them, “I’ll be waiting for you to finish the first part of the exam.”

After giving a determined nod, the three started to walk in the direction of the doors. Kakashi didn’t turn around and watched them retreat till they had almost vanished, only to call out his student’s name again. Questioningly, the blonde girl turned around.

“Take what I, and what Shikamaru said, to heart.”

Her answer was a smile, before grabbing the pendant of the necklace she was wearing.

.

Although Naruto had been nervous about coming late to the exams, it seemed as if there was no need to feel that way. When they had stepped into the bright room they were directed into, nothing major seemed to have had happened yet. No supervisors were to be seen, but the genins’ number was more than enough to fill the room. The anxiousness, nervousness, and animosity were almost palpable. In retrospect, she was almost glad that Kakashi-sensei had been a little late and saved them from spending too much time in the toxic atmosphere. Maybe it had been his intention?

“Wow, they look so strong,” Moegi whispered timidly. Naruto started looking around but she didn’t fear the other genins, but rather the procedure of the test. Shikamaru had mentioned that they’d try to trick them and that everything may not be what it seemed like, and she hated not knowing what was going on.

“There’s nothing for you to be afraid of,” she claimed certainly.

“But they are so much older,” the little girl complained in a low voice.

Naruto shrugged. “So what?”

Konohamaru laughed and stared into the older girl’s face with gleaming eyes. “Hey Moegi! If you don’t trust yourself, at least trust the boss!”

Before anyone could retort something else, the sound of heavy steps cut through the tense atmosphere. A burly man with wide scars across his face and a large black coat thrown across his shoulders entered the room.

“Alright everyone, get into the examination room and hurry the hell up.” The man’s voice was deep and demanding of authority. Naruto could tell the guy was used to getting what he wanted by intimidating the people surrounding him, but exactly that fact made her want to disobey just to throw him off. However, she managed to control her impulsive urges. After all, it wasn’t only _her_ future, but also the ones of Konohamaru and Moegi at risk.

When she stepped into the assigned room, she surprisedly noted that it was filled with tables and chairs which caused it to resemble a class room.

“Really?” she groaned. This whole ordeal suspiciously looked like a written exam. Although Naruto never had been to Ninja Academy before, she had learned soon enough throughout her life that theoretical knowledge was something she’d rather leave to others. Besides, she couldn’t see the sense in inventing written exams. She knew many people who filled their heads with book knowledge, yet remained useless in a fight and as a ninja. Remembering her teammates, she spotted the annoyed look on Konohamaru’s face and Moegi’s confident expression.

“Everybody will choose a number from the box on the front desk. That number will indicate where you’ll be sitting,” the burly man declared. After everything was said and done, Naruto found herself sitting with number 65 between a Suna and an Oto girl. Moegi sat at the table next to her, but the only boy of their team resided at the other corner of the classroom.

Then, four chunins went through the rows and casted out a sheet of paper to each of the genins. Naruto groaned again, to which the girl with number 64 stared at her oddly. So it was for real. A written test. _Gods_. That is how they wanted to test their competency as a ninja?

“Obviously, copying is forbidden. And if I catch you trying to contact your teammates, or anyone really, even after you are finished, your whole team will fail. So you better watch what you do.” Naruto snorted because that statement sounded extremely weird. More of a ‘ _Don’t let yourself be caught_ ’ than a ‘ _Don’t cheat_ ’.

So the test started, and to Naruto’s surprise, the questions weren’t all that difficult. Sure, she most certainly could answer less than those surrounding her, but even she knew the solutions to some problems. The rest, she supposed, she had to copy. Although there was a risk of getting caught, Naruto had enough trust in her ability to be sneaky. She wasn’t the retainer of the Nine-tailed Fox for nothing, after all. As she kept on filling in what she could, the atmosphere in the room eased to something more comfortable, as the other genins didn’t find the test too difficult as well.

Therefore, she didn’t register what was going on, when all of sudden, a loud crash echoed through the room, only to be followed by glass shards flying through the air. The calm vanished, when everyone panicky tried to find out what the hell was happening. Naruto was no different and quickly noticed that the windows at the other side of the classroom were broken. The shards had flown so far that it had left cuts on her cheek, although she was sitting in far distance. When she gingerly brushed her fingers across the wound, they were coated in blood.

Soon, the first people started to stand up and talk with each other, the test they were supposed to be doing completely forgotten. Agitatedly, the man with the black coat walked towards the glassless window, only to open his eyes widely, an unbelieving expression on his face. Although Naruto had no experience in lip reading, even she could detect the ‘crap’ that the man spoke, but was unbearable in the now loud room.

In the next moment, the door was thrown open, a chunin hurriedly running into the room while panting noisily. “Morino-san! We’re being attacked!”

Then, all hell broke loose.

.

Various shinobi tried to part them into groups to try to defend the village from whatever the hell was attacking them. Although everyone was frantic to find out who was attacking them, the only thing they were informed of, was the fact that the attackers weren’t from the great villages, but an independent group of fighters who wanted to use the assemblage of ninjas, to cause as much damage as possible. That particular fact relieved Naruto even, as it meant that everyone had the same enemy and would stick together, at least.

Suddenly, she remembered her teammates and started searching the chaotic room for their presences. Apparently they were supposed to be put into different teams. Resolutely, she walked into their direction and joined their troop. But before either of them could retort anything, a female Konoha chunin, ran towards her.

“Go back to the team you were assigned to.”

“No.” The woman’s expression was dumbfounded, clearly not having expected that answer.

“Listen-“

“No,” she interrupted the woman’s commanding tone, with her own confident one, “These kids are my responsibility. So we’ll stay together.” She could have been frightened about disobeying to someone of higher rank, but if Kakashi-sensei taught her something, then it was that orders meant shit. Although she knew that they were being parted into different troops for a strategically important reason, she couldn’t convince herself to leave the children alone.

The woman huffed and distanced herself from the group. In a matter of minutes they were being directed outside, each group having at least one chunin or jonin to lead them. As they ran through the village, she saw the citizens racing around in a hurry to save themselves from the attackers. The impression of defenseless villagers frantically trying to protect themselves upset Naruto and made anger bubble up in her insides. All they way to wherever the hell they were steering towards, she asked herself what was happening, who the attackers were , and whether Shikamaru was okay. Worriedly she grasped his necklace around her neck, while nervously nibbling on her lower lip

But although she tried to discern who the attackers were, she couldn’t quite distinguish them through the crowd. At last, they arrived at the market place, where the leading chunin turned towards them. “You are assigned to help the villagers to evacuate this place! Hurry up!”

In a frantic hurry, Naruto caught the eyes of her teammates who had concerned looks in their eyes. “You heard what he said. Help the people escape.”

Konohamaru stiffened shortly, only to nod determinedly. “Alright boss! Come on, Moegi!”

Naruto was just about to follow them, when suddenly a loud crash echoed through the air. Before her, a wide crater had built itself, where there used to be the street before. Quickly turning around, she spotted two men and one woman surrounding her. Apart from not wearing a hitai-ate, they stood out through their expressions. They didn’t look worried, scared, or even determined like the rest of the people, but wore almost maniacal grins on their faces that made it easy to distinguish them as the attackers.

Resolutely, Naruto positioned her body into a fighting stance. “Attacking the weak villagers is all you can do? Too much of a coward to fight someone of your own strength.”

One of the men laughed. “It’s a lot from you to assume that your skills are up to our standards, girly!” With that final retort he immediately started attacking with the support of the two remaining attackers. Quickly, Naruto started to block, only to jump on a halfway destroyed roof to perform her Kage-Bunshin-No-Jutsu. With the help of her ten doppelgangers, she engaged in a fight of quick taijutsu. But Naruto knew that she would have to counter the attacks with something other than that if she wanted a quick win. After all, she still had villagers to evacuate.

Having kicked the woman into the wall of a supermarket, she brushed with the backside of her hand across her face to wipe the sweat off. When her hand returned into her field of vision, she noticed something unusual. _Blood?_ She was fairly certain that she hadn’t been hit in her face, yet. So where the hell came the blood from? Hurriedly, she let her fingers wander across her skin, only to halt at her cheek. _The glass shards._ Now she remembered. After the window had been broken broken in the middle of the exams, one shard had flown so far across the room that it had cut her skin. But that had been at least half an hour ago. Had she been a regular human being, she probably wouldn’t have thought twice about the still slightly bleeding wound. But Naruto Uzumaki wasn’t just a regular human. She was the retainer of the Kyuubi. For all the trouble the damn fox caused, he healed her injuries very quickly. Something wasn’t right…

Caught up in her own thoughts for a few minutes, she noticed that she was attacked from behind a few seconds too late. Although she managed to react quickly, the blade of an arrow still managed to cut the flesh at her thigh where her shorts ended.

“It burns, doesn’t it?”

When she turned around, a woman with long hair stood beside her. She had an awfully smug look on her face for someone who just managed to scrape her.

“The next time you want to wear that ugly smirk of yours, better make sure you injure me first,” she hissed angrily. How can a person be so satisfied with herself when she didn’t even have the guts to attack her from where she could be seen? But the woman only laughed.

“Oh honey,” she sighed, “don’t be too impatient, it’ll take effect in less than a minute.”

Naruto’s eyes widened when she realized what the other woman meant. But that realization only came when she started to sense the burning from her wound on her thigh. It intensified with every passing second and soon had her whole leg infected with its effect. What the hell was happening? It only had been a small cut.

“You know, most people use snakes or scorpions. Others prefer plants. But my favourite are puffers. Such a cute fish, but such a vile poison.”

Poison. So that was it. Naruto disliked poison user because, in her opinion, they were simply too wimpy to attack someone directly. But normally she didn’t really pay attention to them, as poison didn’t affect her body, thanks to the Kyuubi. Although that beast had made her life a living hell, it obviously attempted to pay some rent for residing in her body. So why the hell was the poison taking such a big effect on her? During her trip with Ero-Sennin she carefully tested many kinds of poison on her body to reaffirm that it didn’t affect her. Contrary to what the bitch thought, puffer poison isn’t exactly rare, so it was one of the toxic substances she tested. Then, it hadn’t shown any effects whatsoever. So what the hell was happening?

“Something’s not right…” she mumbled.

“Sweety, are you just figuring that out now?” The woman’s laugh grated on Naruto’s nerves.

Focus. Focus. Her instincts were telling her that there was some kind of foul play here, something didn’t quite add up. The cut on her cheek that hadn’t healed, the poison that was damaging her body - it shouldn’t be possible. That was the kind of thing that would happen to normal people, anyone but Naruto Uzumaki.

_Look underneath the underneath._

She froze in her movements. Not one toe was budging, even her breath got stuck in her throat. Could it be? Slowly she shifted her fingers into a rarely used position to form a sign.

_Kai._

She hadn’t realized that she had closed her eyes, but when she opened them, she was sitting in a classroom, 64 and 66 to her left and right. Naruto’s eyes threatened to bulge out of their sockets. _What. The. Hell._ Frantically she turned around, to spot everyone as they were before they were attacked. About one quarter of the people had their eyes open, the others almost seemed to be in some kind of sleep. But Naruto knew that that wasn’t the case. No, everything she had experienced before, the window being broken, the chunin storming into the room, the attack and everything that happened after that, was simply the ploy of a genjutsu. They had been caught in a fucking genjutsu all along. Still, she was relieved when she spotted Konohamaru and Moegi still sitting in their seats securely. Apparently, they were both still caught in that stupid jutsu.

When she looked to the front, the guy in the trench coat and the other ninjas were placidly observing the genins. Although she knew that it all had been part of the exams, she couldn’t help but feel angry.

However when she was about to give in into the urge to speak, she found herself unable to. Confusedly she pressed her lips together. She knew this weird sensation of being unable to make a sound although you felt ready to shout. A silence seal. She would have snorted, but the silence seal prevented even that. These idiots didn’t know whom they were placing seals on. Naruto may not have had many friends while growing up, and when she had started her ninja training, she had been a catastrophe. But fuinjutsu was the only thing she was naturally gifted in, something she managed better than anyone else, and thus, a little spark that gave her confidence.

Frantically, she started searching for where the seal had been placed on. It must be somewhere on her body, somewhere easily accessible as it should be completed swiftly and didn’t need to exist for a long time. So probably somewhere on unclothed skin. The place narrowed down to face, neck, cleavage, hands, and legs. But even after observing her body, she couldn’t find the traces of a seal. Out of the corner of her eye, she absentmindedly noted a smudge of ink on her shorts. When she focused on the stain, she pulled the rough fabric slightly up, where she finally spotted a familiar seal.

Although it wasn’t a necessity to paint it there, someone took the effort to do it. That could only mean that – someone wanted to touch her thigh? In a start, she shot her head up. Could it be, or was she overreacting? But when her eyes wandered over the people again, a guy, one of the supervisors, caught her eyes. He was still young, in his twenties, with brown hair that was partly hidden through a bandana that was bound on his head. But what had really demanded her attention was the smug smirk on his lips that were casually holding a senbon. The man’s glance was focused on Naruto. It was when he winked, that she lost the last shreds of her patience. She was going to kick that guy’s ass, supervisor or not.

She could feel the blood rushing into her face, from embarrassment and anger. She never had had a boyfriend, and although the man hadn’t been intimate with her or anything, it was the intention behind his action that bothered her so much. Only Shikamaru had been so close to her, not during a spar, or a fight, or just through coincidence, but simply because he wanted to touch her. Nervously her fingers moved to grasp the necklace around her neck. _Shikamaru_.

That stupid senbon-guy won’t know what will hit him. Swiftly, she forced herself to focus on the seal again. It had been painted rather clumsily and it was quite obvious that someone had been only copying the symbols without knowing their meaning. Lifting her forefinger to her mouth, she bit into the soft flesh to draw some blood. After some well placed marks, she seeped some chakra into the seal to deactivate it. Easy as pie.

She just was about to call the man out on his behaviour, when she thought better of it. The trench coat guy had told them that they weren’t allowed to speak, even after the test was over, probably not to disrupt the genjutsu the others were in. The technique had been actually easy to solve, once you knew it was a genjutsu, judging the fact that even she had been able to get out of it.

But when was the test going to end? Maybe there was some kind of time limit, and if you don’t disrupt the genjutsu in the given amount of time, you won’t pass the first part of the exam. So it would be probably smarter to help her teammates while she had the time, or else she wouldn’t have it later.

Without moving her head too much, to avoid attracting attention, she tried to see into Moegi-chan’s direction. Her eyes were open and she was frantically looking around. So she just had managed dissolve the jutsu. Smart girl.

That left Konohmaru. Although she could only see his back, as he was sitting somewhere in front of her, it was apparent by his lack of movement and his saggy body stature that he was still caught in the technique.

Genjutsu was all about chakra control, so she had to disrupt that taking effect on Konohamaru. But using chakra control herself, was out of question, as she still sucked in that particular field. So rather focus on her strengths.

Discretely, she started cutting the sheet that they had been given as test papers. Then, she bit into her finger again to draw blood. One part, she used for testing and developing a seal. Although she had some difficulties with having to work without being caught and being under time pressure, she managed to invent a seal, before anyone had made a sound. So the exam still wasn’t over.

After scratching the miniature version of the seal with her fingernail on the other, little piece of paper, she folded it into a tiny square and seeped a little amount of chakra into it. After that, it was easy to let the thing fall discretely on the floor, where it slid towards Konohamaru to disrupt what chakra control someone had over him. Suddenly, the boy opened his eyes and confusedly stared to his left and right. For a moment, Naruto asked herself whether he had been caught in the same illusion as her.

However, she didn’t have much time to ponder over that topic, as something finally happened. To be precise, the guy in the trench coat gave the other supervisors a nod. In response, these ninjas synchronically formed identical finger signs. After that, Naruto could spot everyone in the room open their eyes. Some looked tired, others scared or panicky, many were confused. But no one made a sound, as the seals were obviously still intact. Naruto thought of speaking up, of rubbing in that their pathetic seals hadn’t been nearly enough to entertain her, but before she could come to a decision, she was beat to it by the trench coat guy.

“I am Morino Ibiki, and the first part of these chunin exams is finished. Following genins have passed.” Then he started to list the numbers of those who had managed to pass. To Naruto’s relief, hers, Moegi-chan’s and Konohamaru’s numbers were among them, so that meant that they had done everything right.

“For those of you who are still confused,” Ibiki went on, “The purpose of this test was to recognize and dissolve a genjutsu successfully. Everyone of you got faced with the same illusion to ensure fairness. It was just a couple of years ago, that Konoha got infiltrated. The attack had been started with a genjutsu that incapacitated a part of our ninjas, who were then unable to fight. Of course, you still had the possibility of escaping this technique through the discreet help from one of your teammates.”

Then there was a pause. It was apparent that Ibika had a great time staring into the faces of those who hadn’t passed. “Alright, everyone. Deactivate those seals,” he grumbled to the other supervisors. After that, he turned to the genins, again. The next part of the exams will be held by another jonin. She’s waiting outside of the building.” With that, the man left.

Afterwards, the supervisors went around to deactivate the seals on people’s body parts. Most had opted for the hand while placing them, or somewhere other easily accessible like the neck. Naruto was the only one whose seal had been placed under her clothing. If there had been any doubt to what the greasebag with the senbon had done, it vanished when he made a slow detour to deactivate everyone’s seals but hers. Eventually, the room started to fill with the noise of people chattering, but after some time it started to quite out again, as the genins began to exit the room. After some time, she was the only one left sitting, with the prick as her only company.

He slowly approached her, a smug smirk adorning his face, while holding the senbon lazily between his lips. Other girls may have swooned, she supposed, she could admit that he was handsome. But the only emotion she felt was burning ire. When the guy had the audacity, to place his palm on her thigh and slowly move it upwards to push her shorts up to gain access to the seal, she flipped.

The sound was terribly loud in the eerily quiet room. But Naruto felt satisfaction at the look of the man’s reddened cheek that stood in contrast to his skin. It hadn’t been a girly slap, no, it had been a slap hard enough to bruise.

Confusedly, the guy held his palm, which had been previously feeling up her skin, on his cheek. Naruto took that moment to stand up, and even though she was still shorter than him, she felt better.

“Look, you sleazebag,” she began, her voice just barely controlled, “I’m engaged. So if you ever attempt to touch my skin again, I will shove your senbon in places you don’t want it to get stuck in.”

With that, she left the room.

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, your comments would be very much appreciated:)


	13. 13

**.**

When Shikamaru came home, his father was sitting on the porch playing Shogi. It was a sight he had become familiar with, but today, he wondered why his father hadn’t left, yet. Normally, at this time of the day, he’d be off seeing his duties as a council member and the head tactician of Konoha.

Still, without a word he sat on the edge of the wooden floor and focused on the traditional stone garden. A little deer appeared from around the corner of another house and slowly approached a pond between the stones. Usually the animals kept to themselves and stayed in the part of the forest that belonged to the Nara clan. But with time, they had learned that the humans living next to them meant no harm and appeared every now and then.

The peaceful silence was broken by the sound of his mother’s soft steps approaching. She gingerly held a cup of hot tea in her hand, as she moved to sit next to him.

“How did it go?” she asked in an usually relaxed and soft tone.

He shrugged lightly. “She was a little nervous.”

Shikamaru was nervous, too, more than he had been during his own chunin exams, actually. When he had been taking part, he only wanted to pass to be over and done with it. He wouldn’t have been disappointed if he hadn’t passed and his family didn’t pressure him into anything. Naruto, though, would probably sad. He barely knew how to deal with a happy Naruto, he didn’t want to encounter a sad one.

The family kept on comfortably sitting on their porch, till the head of the clan broke the silence.

“We should have a new house built.”

Not knowing where that topic had suddenly emerged from, Shikamaru turned around with one eyebrow raised. But before he could ponder about the statement any further, his mother beat him to it by asking his father.

“Why? For whom?”

“For Shikamaru and Naruto, of course”, he answered without missing a beat.

The son frowned. He had never wondered where they would live once they were married. When he was younger, it seemed like the date of his marriage was still ages away and nothing to be concerned about, and after the time had passed faster than he had wished to, so many problems seemed to present themselves, that their living conditions weren’t on top of the list.

“But why should they stay elsewhere? We can just keep on living like right now! Everything is perfectly fine this way,” his mother argued.

Shikamaru didn’t know what to think of his father’s suggestion. On the one hand, it did sound good to be a little more independent and free from his mother’s reign. But with that came responsibility, unfortunately. Did he really want to bother with cooking, cleaning, repairing and with everything that came with possessing an own house? His father’s sigh interrupted his thoughts.

“They’re only children,” Yoshino insisted.

Shikamaru wanted to argue that he wasn’t a child since he had accepted the headband from Iruka-sensei, but he decided that it wasn’t worth the effort. His father sighed again.

“They’re engaged and they will be married in less than a year. They need space to do what couples do. Any unless you haven’t noticed,” he mentioned offhandedly, “this house mostly consists of thin paper walls. I _really_ don’t want to listen when they will eventually do what teenie couples do in an enclosed space.”

Blood rushed into Shikamaru’s face. He’d be lying if he would claim to have never thought about having sex with Naruto. Not only because they were engaged and sex would be inevitable at some point if he ever wanted to produce the next heir to the Nara generation, but also because he could admit that he could stand Naruto pretty well. Since the self-revelation about his feelings, these thoughts busied his mind even more often. Add that to the fact that Naruto was more than easy on the eyes – Yeah, it was safe to say that _this_ particular topic had a consistent place in his mind.

As he was lost in thought, he missed a part of the argument between his parents, but when he focused again, his father was speaking.

“Eventually, they would move out anyway, Yoshino. This will be a good time as any. Besides, it’s not like they’ll be living at the other end of the village. They’ll still be within clan property, barely three houses over, a two minute walk, at most”

That seemed to slightly mollify his mother. She turned to him. “What do you think, Shikamaru?”

He shrugged. “I’ll talk about it with Naruto later.” Lazily, he stood up and cracked his joins. He had people to bribe to get access to the preliminary exams.

.

Luckily, not much seemed to have happened while Naruto had been telling the senbon-guy her mind. Due to her lateness, she only missed the introduction of the jonin who’d be testing them next. But judging the pale, scared expressions on the remaining genins’ faces, the woman had been intimidating. On first glance, she didn’t seem all that dangerous. She was taller than herself, which wasn’t a big feat considering how short Naruto was. Also, the woman wore her hair in a high pony tail, and was dressed in mostly fishnet and a beige trench coat. However the maniacal grin on her face told the blonde that the woman certainly wasn’t an innocent one.

“So,” she declared in a far too amused tone, “as I said, we’ll be doing a Konoha classic. We do this part of the exam regularly, because you can’t prepare for it, even if we told you what would be happening. It’s efficient as hell, too. By the end of this part of the exam, at least half of you will be out.”

Gasps were to be heard in the rows of the genin, and Naruto herself gritted her teeth. Although, she was confident in her abilities, the first part of the exam had proven to her that this exam wasn’t to be underestimated. She had only detected that the whole thing had been a genjutsu because its content had been going against the laws of Naruto’s physique. Hadn’t she been the vessel of the Kyuubi, things might have turned out differently.

‘Damn right, brat. Better begin to appreciate me.’She immediately recognized the fox’s voice that rumbled through her mind. Although the bijuu mostly kept to himself, every now and then, he would decide to make his presence known. But today, she forced herself to ignore his words and focus on the kunoichi once again.

“Every team will be getting _one_ scroll.” She motioned to the scrolls which were neatly piled together on the ground. “But they aren’t identical. There are Heaven-Scrolls and Earth-Scrolls, but to complete this part of the test, you have to posses both. Ergo, you have to steal the other one from another team. You have to bring them to the tower in the middle of training ground #44, then. Normally, you’d have 120 hours for that,” she grinned even wider, “but it’s your bad luck that I don’t have the time to supervise that spectacle, _again._ It’s getting old, really fast. So I’ll give you 48 hours.”

Suddenly, a male chunin appeared, holding a stack of papers in his hands.

“Oh, right. I had almost forgotten that,” the woman picked up again. “Have to cover myself legally, after all.”

Loud murmurs were to be heard, and when Naruto finally got one sheet, too, she understood why. They were asked to sign that any harm that would come to them during this part of the exam wasn’t Konoha’s responsibility.

“You’ve read right. This training ground isn’t called Forest of Death only to scare little children. If you want to chicken out, better do it now.”

After a tense silence, a boy younger than her spoke up with a low voice. “Sorry guys, maybe if we’re more prepared the next time…” And after that some other teams weaseled out, too.

Searching through the masses, she finally spotted the odd hair of Moegi and steered towards her. Not wanting to attract much attention because of her lateness earlier, she had refrained from doing that earlier. But when she eventually stood beside her temporary teammates, their worries were apparent on their faces. “Naruto,” the little girl whimpered. But before she could talk further, the blonde interrupted her.

“I will sign that paper, and if you want to, I’ll sign another paper to carry the responsibility of your health.” Konohamaru’s head lifted curiously. “I am not going to belittle you. But I can promise you that #44 won’t kill or incapable you.”

The boy’s expression still held some skepticism. “How can you know that?”

“Because I am promising it to you. I’ll rather die than going back on that. Do you believe in me?”

He seriously seemed to consider that. Then, finally, he answered. “Yes.”

.

When they entered the forest, they first aimlessly started to run towards its center. It’s not like they had anything better to do with no other teams around. But the peace didn’t last. After what seemed to be one hour, judging the movement of the sun, another team appeared.

It was apparent that they had been waiting on the branches to cut their way of. Suddenly, they were faced with the three male Ame-genins, who appeared to be around her age. The guy in the middle grinned triumphantly.

“We have let quite some teams pass. Either the wrong scroll, or too troubling-“

“You mean too strong for you to take up with?” She interrupted his speech tauntingly. Their faces contorted. “And when we came by, you thought that the two kids and the ditzy blonde were an easy prey, right?” She smiled, but she wasn’t amused. Although, she knew that it was terribly easy to work prejudices based on her appearance to her own advantage, she never stopped getting angry over it.

The dumb look on the guy’s face over having his strategy revealed didn’t last. Instead an almost lewd grin appeared on their faces. “Okay, babe. I like my women feisty, anyway.”

Naruto almost lost it. This stupid _boy_ , maybe 15 years old and pimpled, talked as if he had the utmost experience with the other gender. She knew that boys matured later than girls, and that it maybe wasn’t the guy’s fault that his hormones were wrecking what little self-control he possessed, but that was in no way an excuse. After all, her fiancé was the prime-example that teenage boys didn’t have to be as awful as the one she was presented with currently. No, Shikamaru was mature, experienced and in control of himself. Even if she had been a shallow girl, she hadn’t chosen any of these guys over her fiancé. Where they were spotty, Shikamaru had perfectly even and fair skin, where they still had some baby fat hanging on their faces, Shikamaru had sharp features, cheekbones jutting out, his body slender, yet clearly athletic. Although, he was a teenager, too, he tended more towards _man_ than _boy._ She sighed wistfully. God damn it. She missed him a little, even more so in the presence of such dumbasses.

But instead of voicing her displeasure, she finally gave her Kage-Bunshin the sign to attack. They jumped off high branches and promptly knocked the Ame-idiots out.

“Wow, you were great, Naruto-san!” squealed Moegi-chan behind her.

“Boss, why didn’t you leave some for me? I would have totally kicked their asses,” Konohamaru complained.

“I’m sure you would’ve,” Naruto answered honestly. These guys had been so pathetic, that she was fairly sure that the boy could’ve taken at least one of them on. In response to her frank assumption, Konohamaru beamed.

“Anyway, let’s look what kind of scroll they had,” Naruto suggested, remembering the exam they were in. “Can you do that for me? There’s no way in hell I’m touching him.” The kids giggled and started to pat the unconscious ninjas down.

“Aha!” the boy exclaimed, pulling out the scroll that had been hidden under the folds of one boy’s clothes. Quickly, the girls hurried in his direction. “Great!” Moegi beamed, “It’s an Earth Scroll, just the one we need.” Konohamaru grinned.”Now we only have to reach the tower.”

The little girl frowned. “But what if we get attacked, again? Now that we have both scrolls even more teams will target us.”

Reluctantly, Naruto had to agree. It had been wrong to start running without having a plan in the first place, she realized. Instead, they should have – She cut herself off. It was no use to think about what they should have done, what mattered was what they would do now. Although the Ame-team had been weak, there was no guarantee that the other teams would be, as well. Naruto trusted in her abilities to beat them, but what about her teammates? And what if they were expected to participate in another part the exam right after this one? It wasn’t like her to save her chakra for later, but it couldn’t be a bad idea to do it only this time.

Having made a decision, she started to search through the pockets of her orange jacket, till she finally found what she looked for. “What do you want to do with the ink and the brush? Another cool seal?” Konohamaru asked in a curious voice. Naruto only nodded and started to draw a basic pattern on the palm of her left hand. Then, she picked up both scrolls and laid them above her palm, where they seemingly disappeared into.

“A storage seal,” Moegi whispered excitedly. Naruto nodded again. She’d rather leave every other weapon that she possessed if it meant that she could keep her brush and her ink. The fuinjutsu techniques had been ingrained in her since she had been a little child and long before she had actually learned how to fight.

After searching the area with her eyes, to make sure that they weren’t being watched, she turned to her teammates, again. “Alright, when the other teams can’t see the scrolls, they’ll think we don’t have any. Therefore, we’ll be useless to them and they forego us. That way we can comfortably travel to the tower without much trouble.”

It would be the boring, but safe approach. She disliked safe.

.

With this strategy they managed to cover most of the way in a short time. Those teams who still attacked them, either did that only to be annoying, or suspected that they had somehow managed to hide the scrolls. But these fights usually didn’t take a long time. The real challenges were the weird animals in this damn forest. Mutated and gross beings with an abnormally strong physique and the never-ending desire to continually attack them.

However, in the end, it wasn’t blunt strength what hindered them, no, it was poison, again. Naruto couldn’t help but feel guilty when Moegi-chan lay on the ground, close to tears, and held her calf. Before her, lay a large eight meter long king cobra, hissing viciously. Naruto had seen some of her kind during her trip with Ero-Sennin before, which was the reason this snake confused her. Not only were the king cobras she had seen been a great deal shorter, they weren’t as aggressive, as well. They normally didn’t live in such a climate, neither. It was clear that the supervisors had placed animals such as the snake in this forest for the purpose of making the test even harder.

Still, she blamed mostly herself. Naruto just wasn’t used to looking out for poisonous creatures, as poison simply didn’t affect her. But if she wanted to work as a Konoha-ninja she better started getting used to it.

She cursed and stepped towards the cobra to swiftly cut its head off with the edge of her kunai. “God damn it.” Why couldn’t it have been a plant that had poisoned Moegi-chan? Her secret gardening hobby, had given her plenty of experience with toxic crops. But she had no idea how to deal with the animals.

Having made a decision, she crouched before the still whimpering Moegi. “Come on, sit up,” she said while motioning to her own back. The girl only watched her confusedly. “Moegi-chan, you have to let me carry you. I don’t know when the poison will take its full effect, so we have to be fast.” Reluctantly, she climbed on the teenager’s back and swung her arms around the blonde’s neck.

After standing up, Naruto formed a familiar sign. “Kage-Bunshin-No-Jutsu.” One doppelganger of hers appeared and promptly swung Konohamaru over her shoulder, who had been watching the whole ordeal concernedly.

The boy started to splutter and shout indignantly, but Naruto ignored him and started to run. She was no yellow flash or anything, but she knew she could be fast if she wanted to be. Focusing chakra into her legs and her feet, she sped up even more.

After half an hour of determinedly racing towards the tower, another team appeared, from an even higher branch than the ones she was using to get forward. Naruto was sure that the girl was about to start some dramatic speech about her master plan of how they decided to cut their way off, but the blonde had no time for that. Jumping high into the girl’s direction, she kicked into her stomach. _Hard_. She probably underestimated the chakra that was still running through her legs, but she couldn’t ponder that any further.

Picking up speed again, it lasted little less than twenty minutes till she finally spotted the high, red tower. Entering the gates hurriedly, she almost broke the door when she kicked it open. She and her teammates found herself in a large room that only occupied six other genin who had probably arrived before them. Her doppelganger let Konohamaru stand on his own feet again, before dispelling itself. Suddenly, chunin appeared in front of her.

“I need the scrolls that-“

“And I need a medic as soon as possible. Hurry up!” Dumbfounded the guy stared at her only to turn around and hurry towards another door, which led to a medic ward. Some people were already lying in the provided beds and Naruto quickly moved to lie Moegi-chan in one of the free ones. Medic-nins busted through some other door to exam the little girl.

Frowning, they inspected her, confused by the lack of apparent injuries. Naruto pushed one of them out of the way to lay her hand on Moegi-chan’s calf. “Poison. I think it was a king cobra.” They nodded in acknowledgement and started to work. One of them, who had short brown hair and wore white robes, moved towards her.

“Don’t worry. We’ve got an antidote and the king cobras are mutated in a way that their poison won’t take effect until much later. She wasn’t bitten long ago, no?”

“About fifty minutes.”

The man smiled encouragingly. “Then everything will be alright.”

Naruto’s tensed up muscles relaxed and she could hear Konohamaru sighing from relief. The man frowned. “But I’m afraid she won’t be taking part in the next parts of the exam.”

Pensively, the blonde nodded. When the medics finally gave Moegi-chan the antidote, they exited the room, giving Naruto and her male teammate some time with her. She looked satisfied, if a little tired.

“I’m sorry, Moegi-chan.”

“It’s alright,” she said with a smile on her face, “I think I’ve learned a lot during these exams. Now go and give that guy finally those scrolls.”

.

Another day passed, and in the end, less than half of the groups passed, many because they couldn’t reach the tower in the given amount of time because they have been either injured in a fight, or attacked by the animals, or poisoned by the wildlife and the plants of training ground 44. What chakra Konohamaru and her lost during the first stages of the exam, they replenished in that day. So by the time they got lead into a large hall where some jonin announced that they would take part in preliminary battlles against each other to shrink the number of the genins even further, they felt pretty good.

Soon the names of two contestants who Naruto didn’t knew were determined to fight against each other. Thus, the other genins moved towards the stairs on the corners of the large hall to watch the fight from the sidelines.

When she finally reached the top, she spotted a familiar relaxed expression of a man leaning against the wall with his hands hidden in his pockets. He turned his head around, and caught her eyes with a brilliant smile across his face.

“Shikamaru!”

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts and feelings about 13?


	14. 14

**.**

Before she could control herself, she had already run towards his direction and swung her arms around him. She could feel him stiffen slightly and awkwardly pat her back, but she squeezed him one more time before letting go and look in his face.

The grin on his face was slightly cocky. “Missed me?”

Naruto laughed. She liked that look on him, confident, but not arrogant. Her own grin was sly. “You wish!”

Before anyone of them could retort something, she spotted another familiar sight. “Kakashi-sensei!” Excitedly, she started to wave. In a nonchalant stride, the man closed up the distance. “What? No hug for me?” She rolled her eyes.

“Where’s the little girl?” he asked. Naruto wondered whether sensei even knew Moegi-chan’s name.

“Medical ward,” she answered, her tone slightly bitter. She still felt guilty about that particular incident since she had believed herself to be responsible for her teammates. The only problem was that she wasn’t used to looking out for others. Most of her life, she hadn’t been able to develop close ties to people and had rarely felt the kind of companionship that she did since she arrived in Konoha. One rare exception had been Jiraiya-sensei who was more than capable to look out for himself and thus didn’t need her help. Pushing these thoughts aside, she leaned over the railing to focus on the battle before them. Shikamaru stood closely beside her.

“Kind of reminds me of my own exams,” he murmured, as if he was lost in his memories.

She watched him from the corner of her eyes although she knew that she should be concentrating on the fight that was going on. But she couldn’t tear her gaze off him.

“What was it like?”

He sighed. “Troublesome.” She chuckled.

Then he turned his head around slightly to watch her properly, before the corners of his lips turned up into a grin. “I passed, though.”

Laughingly she nudged him with her left elbow. “Showoff.”

But his grin only grew brighter and showed that he was joking lightheartedly. “Out of all the participants, I was the only one to pass. I deserve to show off.”

Although his tone wasn’t serious, she was impressed. In all the time she had been in Konoha, she hadn’t seen Shikamaru train half the amount that she trained, and according to what his friends and family said, he was even lazier when she wasn’t around. To put only that low amount of effort into what he did and still surpass the rest… He was –

“Amazing,” she said in a low voice, her tone awed. She saw how the blood rushed into his face and found it to be the cutest thing she had seen. But before she could comment on it, grey hair obstructed her vision and a heavy hand fell on her shoulder. She could see that Kakashi-sensei’s other hand rested on her fiancé’s shoulder.

“Enough with the flirting. Naruto, focus on the battles.” His tone was only half-joking and she wanted to whine when Shikamaru beat her to it. “He’s right, Naruto. Depending on whom you will be fighting, it could be useful to discern what particular techniques the genin from a particular village use.”

She nodded when she heard his firm, calm voice that held none of the lightheartedness that it had shown only moments ago. Naruto could imagine him as a chunin, leading other ninjas in a mission and she felt as if she could understand to some extent why he was the only one to pass the chunin exam test. The level of maturity he displayed – She broke her trail off thought off. Enough thinking about Shikamaru. She had an exam to focus on.

.

When Genma had met the other supervisors at the end of the first part of the exam, the whole room had roared up in laughter. Somehow they had all found out about the blonde girl and the bright red colour that stained his cheek where the witch had slapped him, didn’t do anything to ease their joy.

Now, during the preliminary exams, as his eyes searched the crowd for a striking face, he halted when he recognized the familiar blonde locks between the many ninjas. Although she seemed little and frail now, she had turned out to be a vicious harpy. Genma liked feisty women, but he’d rather stay injury-free after a night with them. Just as he was about to forego her in order to scan the crowd further, his gaze locked onto another familiar sight. Shikamaru?

Genma was pretty sure that the Nara heir hadn’t been appointed for any duties during the chunin exams, although he hadn’t inspected the plan given to him very closely. But Shikamaru didn’t seem to be on duty, as well. Instead he was talking with – Naruto?

Confused, he turned to Aoba who was supervising the current battle. But even the uptight Aoba wasn’t paying attention to two Academy-level children who wouldn’t be inflicting harm on each other for some time. The fight really was boring.

“Hey, Aoba?”

Without tearing his gaze off the two boys on the battle field, the man gave a grunt to signify that he had heard him.

“Do you know what Shikamaru is doing here?” Pointedly, he gazed into said boy’s direction. Quickly, Aoba turned to look at what Genma was referring to, before turning away, again. But before the man could attempt to answer, Genma asked another question. “And what is he doing with the harpy?”

The other jonin frowned slightly. “Are you referring to Naruto Uzumaki?”

Genma draw his eyebrows up. Uzumaki? “I don’t know her name.”

“The blonde with the blue eyes.”

“Yes,” he grounded out. _Never_ would he approach a blonde again. Too many bad memories.

“Well, I don’t know what they are currently doing,” Aoba supplied, “but Nara-san may have wanted to see her. She is his fiancée, after all.”

At that, Genma’s jaw dropped open. _What?_ “Finacé?”

The man wearing sunglasses finally turned around from the pitiful battle, he was supposed to supervise. “Were you, by cany hance, not in Konoha the last month?”

“I had a longer mission. Almost took me two months.”

The other man nodded understandingly. “I’m sure you’ve known that Nara-san was already engaged. About one month ago, his fiancé finally arrived in Konoha. Not that I listen to town-gossip, but they seem to be getting on well.”

Dread, was what Genma felt when he had heard those words. He had hit on Shikamaru`s fiancé? Guilt arised in him, making him feel slightly sick. He would never approach a comrade’s girlfriend, much less his future wife. But would Shikamaru even care? He hadn’t struck to him as someone to get upset over something like that and chances were good that he wasn’t very close to her seeing how much of a harpy the girl had been.

Turning his head upwards, he looked at the pair again. Instead of the unfitting frown that Naruto had worn when she had spoken with him, a smile adorned her face, her eyes never leaving Shikamaru’s whose expression was carefree and happy in a way that Genma had never seen before.

Damn.

.

Naruto’s fight had been surprisingly short and after a five-minute-combat, she had won without a scratch marring her skin. But her win was probably more due to the fact that her battling partner had been extremely weak and inexperienced than due to her own capabilities. That way, it hadn’t been a fair fight to begin with, but that was how ninja life worked. You can’t choose your enemies, and after what happened during his own chunin exams, he viewed everyone, no matter whether they were an official ally or not, as a potential threat.

Huffing, the blonde girl slid down the wall he had been leaning his back against. “You were lucky to only have had someone like that to fight with.”

She groaned. “I’d have preferred someone strong who is able to challenge me.” He gave her a glance out of the corner of his eye. “Stop being weird. Everyone else would be happy.” She grinned slyly. “I’m not everyone, though, am I?”

Although he wanted to retort something, his eyes accidently caught the naked skin of her legs. Knowing he shouldn’t focus on Naruto’s body, but unable not to, he slowly examined the tanned skin till his eyes reached her thighs where her shorts slight rode up –

Confusedly, he momentarily dismissed eying Naruto up, when he saw a seal marring her creamy skin. Although Shikamaru had close to no idea when it came to fuinjutsu, this particular seal seemed odd to him. Without spending time pondering further he put his palm on her thigh to trace the inky patterns. She felt warm.

“This isn’t one of yours.”

Her eyebrows were raised high I surprise and she turned to watch the seal. But Shikamaru couldn’t observe her expression any further since his eyes were firmly fixed on her thigh.

“How do you know that?”

He slightly furrowed one eyebrow. “Normally, after you activate one of yours, they disperse, so that they’re unreadable in the end. This one however, is still clearly distinguishable. Also, the characters are clumsily written. Your handwriting is clean and your strokes are perfect.” By that, he didn’t even intent to compliment her, he was just stating the facts.

He could hear her chuckle. “I would hope so, after that many year of practice. Anyway, you’re right. It’s a silence seal that was part of the first satge of the exam. They put it on us while we were in a genjutsu.”

Slowly, an odd sensation developed in his chest, making it harder for him to breathe. It felt as if a heavy rock was lying above his lungs that left him feeling angry and frustrated at the same time. But he would analyze this sensations another time because he couldn’t stall the next question he was going to ask.

“And they drew it under your clothes for _what reason_?” Shikamaru noticed how his voice sounded strained, bitter, and _angry?_ What the hell was going on with him?

Naruto seemed to be equally confused, her eyes round and wide as they looked up to him. Hesitatingly, she answered his question. “There was no reason. The guy was just trying to be a dick.

“Who?” His retort was biting, flat, harsh.

“Uhm,” she turned after a short pause to look around. “That guy over there,” She nodded in a specific direction, “with the bandana and the senbon in his mouth.”

 _Genma_.

He didn’t notice when Naruto turned around since his eyes were still firmly fixed on the jonin in question. “Are you alright, Shikamaru?”

Forcefully, he tore his gaze off. Naruto’s expression showed confusion and concern. Forcing himself to calm down was a hard endeavor, which was odd in itself. After all, he is Shikamaru Nara – being calm was in his genes. But the sight of that clumsy strokes of ink across Naruto’s skin made him feel as if he had no self-control at all.

In order to save him the sight of the offending seal, he grasped the flesh which his palm still rested on tightly.

“Just,” he breathed in, unable to voice his emotions in a way that made sense to him or Naruto, “do you have something to get that off?”

After watching him for a few moments, she started rummaging in the pockets of her jacket. “Maybe I have a little with me…” Triumphantly, she pulled out a tiny bottle from the insides of the garment. “Oh but I don’t have a handkerchief or-“

He interrupted her by grasping the bottle out of her hands and promptly spilling it all over her thigh. Without care for his clothes, he used the hem of his sleeve to rub the offending patterns off. When the seal was nothing more than a smudge on Naruto’s skin, he leaned back again, Genma in his field of vision.

Before he was aware of what he was doing, he had already thrown one arm across her shoulders in an unconsciously possessive gesture.

Although he tried to calm down and not show how upset he was in the presence of Naruto, he was fuming on the inside. He was angry, angry like he had never been before. But there was something else, something constricting his lungs, that made him want to strangle Genma.

Forcing himself to be more objective, he tried to understand his feelings. Normally, he liked Genma. He was laid back and easy to get along with. It was well known among their circles that he was a womanizer, but that had never been of any interest to him. In fact, he still couldn’t care less, as long as the man didn’t come near _his_ Naruto.

Frustratedly, he exhaled. He was jealous, he realized, which was confusing. Shikamaru wasn’t one to be jealous. After all, he got way more attention than he sought, and he had everything he desired material-wise . Not even was he jealous of other people’s abilities, since he was aware that he had other abilities to balance the difference off. Maybe, he sometimes was jealous of the civilians’ lives, who got to relax and hadn’t had to spend time on problems he dealt with on a daily basis. But as there was no use in pondering these matters, as it wouldn’t change the situation he was in, he mostly let it be. But Naruto – he sighed. He couldn’t stand even imagining her being with someone else.

“Don’t you feel well?” Her voice was concerned, and Shikamaru felt happy because she cared about him and a little annoyed at himself for having upset her.

“What did you do after you realized that it was him who drew it?”

Did she flirt back? Genma had a way with women, after all. Just imagining that put him on edge and for a short moment, he hated Naruto, for making him lose his calm and react completely irrational. Unaware of Shikamaru’s thoughts, the blonde girl only raised an eyebrow.

“You’re still thinking about that?”

He ignored her question. “What did you do?” He needed to know.

She rolled her eyes. “I gave him a slap and basically told him not to come near me again.”

Something in his chest loosened up then, relief relaxing his tense muscles. Then he settled back, arm still around her shoulders.

.

In the end, they had ignored most battles save for Konohamaru’s who just barely lost to a girl who was a couple of years older than him. The boy was frustrated although he had put up a decent fight, in Shikamaru’s opinion. Even Ebisu, who was apparently the sensei of the kids, did seem satisfied.

“It isn’t necessarily about winning,” the man had preached, a proud smile on his face.

Konohamaru clearly thought that was bullshit only said to reassure him, but Shikamaru decided to try and placate him. “He’s right. I lost in the final battles, and I was the only one to get promoted to chunin”, he mentioned offhandedly.

Naruto laughed. “He’s amazing, isn’t he?” Shikamaru managed to appear calm, but he couldn’t bring himself to look into her face.

But Konohamaru seemed more convinced after hearing an example where winning really hadn’t been on the front line.

“I admit,” the man wearing the sunglasses proclaimed, “that I was skeptical at first. But this exam worked out much better than I thought it would.” He had a look on his face then, something that Shikamaru had detected on other people’s expressions when talking with or about Naruto. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t place that look. The best that he could come up with, was that they seemed somewhat wary. Since Naruto wasn’t an unreasonably violent person, that could only mean that a number of people knew something about Naruto that he didn’t. After all, Naruto’s sole presence and their whole marriage agreement was still a big mystery to him.

He glanced into his fiancé’s direction. Her expression had tightened up the slightest bit, when she had heard Ebisu speak.

But before he could analyze the matter any further, it was announced who would fight against whom at the final part of the exams. Naruto’s partner was someone they didn’t know, but judging the looks the girl on the other end of trailing gave them, he could take a guess.

.

As they walked down the street, Naruto started mumbling to herself. “Setsuko Fujimoto. I wonder who that is. Damn it, we should’ve paid attention when the others were fighting.”

Shikamaru nodded, only listening half-heartedly. “From Ame. Long, straight, brown hair. Dark eyes. Skinny. Fair skin tone,” he mentioned offhandedly.

She turned to look at him. “You know her?”

“No, but she was staring at you the whole time after the battle partners were announced.”

Naruto grinned apologetically and scratched the back of her head. “Guess I wasn’t paying attention, again. Good that I have you, though.” Her smile was sly.

Suddenly he stopped in his tracks. It was already evening and Shikamaru had decided not to choose the main road to get home. Therefore, they barely encountered any people. Naruto, who had noticed him stop, halted not long after. She cocked her head, as if she wanted to ask ‘ _What is it?’._

“Naruto?”

“Yes?”

“We’re flirting, right?” Even under the waning sunlight it was apparent how the blood rushed into her face. Shikamaru thought that maybe, he should be embarrassed, too, but his focus lay somewhere else.

“Ehm… eh…” She didn’t answer, a mortified expression on her face.

“Do you talk that way with other guys, too?” Suddenly all embarrassment was gone from her face, only to leave the clear feeling of confusion.

“What?” Suddenly her voice grew higher than he had ever heard it to be before. She sounded offended. “Do _you_?” she hissed angrily and Shikamaru asked himself how fast the conversation turned hundred eighty degree.

“What?”

“You were the first one to ask. Are you trying to find common ground because you’ve been doing something with other girls?” Shikamaru wanted to argue that he wasn’t doing anything with anyone. He wanted to know why she was bothering to ask when they were not really in a relationship – well officially yes, but not really. He wanted to get angry, because _he_ wasn’t the one flirting with Genma, so there was no sense to accuse _him_ of all people. But in the end, all of his arguments got stuck in his throat. Misinterpreting his silence, Naruto’s face morphed into an angry grimace.

“I swear if you plan on cheating on me throughout our whole marriage, you’ve got another thing coming.” Suddenly, an idea emerged in Shikamaru’s mind.

“I won’t as long as you won’t.”

Offended, she puffed her cheeks up. “Of course, I won’t! Who do you take me for?”

He nodded. “Good.”

“Good.”

“Then we’re on the same page.”

“Yes.”

.

After that, they fell in some kind of a routine. Naruto trained, hung out with Hinata, and spent time with him. Shikamaru lazed around, sometimes went to missions, and spent time with her. Surly, he had believed, after being around the same person for such a long time would suffocate him, but there was no sign of that.

The only event that dispersed his routine was a particular mission. It wasn’t like any other mission because of one shinobi he would be doing it with, whose name was fate-hates-me Genma Shiranui.

As soon as he had received the assignment from the Hokage, he had felt the familiar anger bubbling in his chest. But he had kept a cool face and nodded stoically, accepting the mission. Now that they were actually _on_ the mission, that task proved to be harder and harder.

Apart from him and Genma, Asuma-sensei also took part in the mission. It was because they could work well together, that they were teamed up so frequently. The mission’s goal was to deliver a secret scroll to the Kazekage which was definitely very important judging the fact that it was already the sixth time they were attacked, this time from rogue nins, and they had left Konoha only half a day ago.

Although he had shortly felt the instinctual desire to sabotage Genma in these moments, he managed to control himself. He felt almost amazed with how calm and professional he was being. But that was all it was. Although he wasn’t trying to kill Genma, he wasn’t joking lightheartedly with him either. Instead, his whole body was tense and strung up, the only time he talked with the man was when it was absolutely needed.

At the end of the first day of their mission, he gladly accepted one of the cigarettes Asuma-sensei was offering around. Normally, he refused, but tonight he needed some relaxing, even if it wasn’t close to what his body actually needed. When he returned home, he wanted to sleep for a whole day to escape the mental effort he was putting himself through. Preferably with Naruto in his bed.

While he was imagining what he would be doing as soon as this assignment was over, a tense silence was settling on the three-men-team, who were resting after a long day of running and fighting. Suddenly Genma couldn’t take the bad atmosphere anymore.

“Look, I didn’t know she was your girlfriend.”

Shikamaru didn’t answer. He was afraid of what he would say if he would. Instead, he brought the cigarette to his lips again to inhale deep enough to feel the burn in his lungs. When he was somewhat sure that he had himself under control, he stumped what was left of the cigarette out.

“She is my fiancé.”

“What the hell is going on?” Asuma-sensei asked confusedly. “What is it about Naruto?”

Genma ignored him. “And I didn’t know that neither. Honestly.”

The look that Shikamaru was giving him after a deep exhale was entirely unbelieving. “You knew I was engaged.”

“I did!” Genma’s voice grew steadily louder and took a desperate tint to it. “But I had a two-month mission just recently. I had no idea that she even was in Konoha, and I was completely unaware of that girl at the exams being your fiancé!”

Shikamaru watched the grass in the light of the moon, tore some of them, lay them on the ground.

“He is telling the truth, Shikamaru,” Asuma-sensei said in that deep voice of his. Apparently he had caught up to what they were arguing about.

But the young Nara heir wasn’t reassured by that. Instead, he moved away to climb on one of the high trees to sit in its branches and watch the stars. There weren’t any clouds visible.

Asuma sighed. “Don’t let it get it to you, Genma. It was good of you to talk with him. Now he knows that you wouldn’t openly betray him.”

Genma huffed, shifting the senbon between his lips from corner of his mouth to the other. “I’m not so sure of that.”

“He just is still angry. And probably angry at himself for feeling angry.” The man smiled and inhaled one more time from his cigarette. “He’s got it bad. It makes him confused and often his feelings are all over the place. That girl,” he chuckled lightly, “makes him crazy.”

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And? How was 14?


	15. 15

**.**

It took the three man team almost one and a half weeks to finally reach Sunagakure. That wasn’t only due to the fact that they were constantly attacked by bandits or rogue-nins, but also because the Godaime had ordered them explicitly not to take the direct route to Suna through the Land of Rivers, but to make a detour through the Land of Rain. None of them had questioned her orders because every single one of them knew that the Hokage had more information than she shared.

Still, everything considered, they arrived at Suna pretty quickly, since they travelled at a faster pace than they normally would. Shikamaru, who usually never refrained from taking a break when it was possible, cut his rest down to a minimum to keep up with Asuma-sensei and Genma. Physically, he wasn’t up to par with them. Partly because he still hadn’t warmed up to the idea of going through the effort of training, partly because his intelligence had always been enough to keep him from dying, partly because he didn’t push himself since he could easily detect an already lost fight.

But during the travel to Suna, he sped up and pushed his body to limits that made Asuma-sensei raise his eyebrow quite a few times, sometimes in approval, sometimes in concern. In favour of travelling more comfortably, Genma and Shikamaru had come to a silent agreement. The younger man didn’t feel any animosity for the other anymore, but his anger was still present. But at least, he didn’t have to watch over his back anymore and expect Genma’s betrayal with every step he took. The Nara heir understood that the other hadn’t intended to do what he did. But that didn’t erase the fact that Genma had essentially still approached his fiancé.

Still the tension had lessened, albeit it wasn’t completely gone. That is why they worked together more smoothly and lessened the time to arrive in Suna even more, which had been Shikamaru’s objective in the first place. If they’d travel any slower, they would be gone from Konoha for about four weeks, which wasn’t a short time. But Naruto’s battle at the final part of the chunin exams would be taking place in about one month from now and Shikamaru didn’t want to risk missing them, since he knew that they were an important event for her. He inwardly groaned. The lengths he went to make her happy…

“We should take a short break,” Asuma-sensei said.

“No,” answered Shikamaru immediately. He knew that his teacher and Genma weren’t at their limits yet and he could push himself more if it was needed.

“Shikamaru, we’ve already been running since last evening.” It was afternoon now. The Nara looked into his direction in response to the slightly concerned tone.

“Only a few more hours and we’re in Suna, anyway.” As his sensei opened his mouth to protest, Shikamaru beat him to it. “There we can spend a whole night and start travelling back the next morning.”

Asuma nodded. He was the team leader for this mission but he valued Shikamaru’s opinion and he was relieved to see that the boy was being unusually ambitious but not unrealistic or even delusional concerning his plans.

.

Luckily, they didn’t get attacked anymore, since they were already pretty close to Sunagakure, an ally of Konoha. But travelling was arduous when they had to run through the desert where none of the familiar trees surrounding the Leaf were in sight. They couldn’t jump as far anymore, and their feet sank into the soft sand. Therefore, it was quite a relief when they finally spotted the earthy gates of the Wind Village.

Asuma sensei grasped into the pocket of his vest, in order to take out a familiar scroll. As soon as they reached the guards at the gates, he threw it towards one of them. Silently, the woman opened it and started to read while the other two watched the team carefully. Shikamaru knew that Suna nins were somehow paranoid when it came to Konoha as they were probably still expecting a revenge act since the shit they pulled at his chunin exams. That’s why, when she finished reading it, she gave it to the man next to her who inspected it, too. At last, he nodded and said to the other man “Open the gates.”

Shikamaru had to admit, Suna was beautiful when the sun was setting. The earthy buildings seemed to glow in the shine of the burning orb. But they hadn’t the time to admire the view, they were already speeding in the direction of the Kazekage tower.

.

After going through countless security measures and showing the scroll from the Hokage that expressed their permission to be here another six times, they finally gained access to the office of the Kazekage.

Gaara looked different, Shikamaru decided. Not because he was taller or because he wore the Kazekage robes, but because of his eyes. The psychopathic glint in them was gone and replaced by calmness and serenity.

They all gave him a short bow and Asuma-sensei grasped into another pocket of his vest, pulling a big scroll out. Stepping towards the redhead, he gave it to him. “Kazekage-sama.”

Gaara nodded. “Thank you.”

Shikamaru was disturbed to say the least. He had known that Gaara couldn’t have been the same psycho from before, if he had become the Kazekage and made Tsunade accept his peace-treaty. But he still remembered the Gaara from his chunin exams, whose voice had barely concealed the violence boiling under his skin. But now the voice was composed and sincere, nothing like it had been only some years ago. He would have liked to know what had happened in that time to change the other youth so drastically.

He finished reading the scroll and looked back towards them. “Thank you. You are welcome to spend time in Sunagakure, if you wish to.”

Asuma-sensei gave one curt nod. “We are grateful to take you up on your offer.” It was clear that they were dismissed and they had already turned to the door, when the voice called out to them, again.

“Nara-san, I would like to have a talk with you, please.”

Shikamaru turned back around and nodded, not one feature showing the surprise he felt. He wouldn’t ever express the emotions he felt in front of this man. For all he cared, Gaara could have become a monk in the time since the chunin exams, he still didn’t trust him. That didn’t mean he wasn’t a professional, though. He stepped towards the man, as he heard Genma and Asuma-sensei exit after hesitating briefly. It wasn’t like they could have done anything.

“Please, sit down.” He did and waited for the kage’s next words. They weren’t what he expected them to be. He had thought of all the possibilities, going so far as to assume that he would say something on behalf of his sister who had been dissatisfied after their fight at the exams, although he had forfeited. But when he spoke, he was so surprised, he had almost ruined his poker face.

“I would like to congratulate you on your engagement.”

.

Gaara had met Naruto Uzumaki just over three years ago. It had been the day of his father’s funeral and a heavy atmosphere had been hanging in the air. He hadn’t been particularly sad about his father’s death like the other citizens of the Wind, but he had been rather perplexed. Something major in his life had changed and his routine had been broken. He wondered how his father’s death would affect his own position in Suna.

Stepping through narrow side streets, he had seen her. She had been short, even shorter than him, and her blonde hair had barely reached over her shoulders. Gaara had acknowledged her only, because she didn’t seem to belong to Suna. Her looks didn’t quite fit the people of this area.

“Hey you!” She had called and Gaara had only known she was referring to him because the street had been completely empty otherwise.

He had been surprised, confused. No one had ever talked to him like that and that was why after all these years, he still remembered her voice vividly. Her face from these short seconds was etched in his mind. Her round, fearless eyes, curious with life. Her stance non-defensive.

Most people, ninja or not, were keeping their distance from him, always trying to be careful in his presence, as if some instinct of self-preservation warned them from coming too close to the wolf in a badly made sheep hide.

That was why Gaara had wanted to dismiss her as too stupid to discern the obvious. But his head had begun to hurt and some part of his mind had told him that he should have known her, somehow remember her, but no matter how hard he had tried he couldn’t remind himself.

After that, his memories started to blur. He remembered that she had asked for something completely trivial, for directions of all things. But the one thing that overshadowed all of his other emotions had been the all too familiar bloodlust humming under his skin.

He vaguely remembered attacking her, she had only defended herself and hadn’t been very offensive. Then she had started fleeing and without spending too much thought on her actions, he and his sand had followed. She had been fast, not near as fast as the boy he had fought at the preliminary battles at the chunin exams, but still fast enough to just barely escape his sand’s playful mood. Before he had known what was happening, he had found himself in the middle of the desert, outside the walls of Suna.

It was then, when she had finally stopped running in favour of attacking. Later, he would recognize that she had been trying to prevent causalities. But during the fight, he hadn’t cared and the only thing he was vividly remembering was the overwhelming desire to kill her and rip her into pieces. It had blocked every other sensation.

Today, he could only ever recall sloppy taijutsu techniques, seals and thousands of her copies running around. And before he had known what was really happening, his monster wasn’t hiding anymore, but merging with the sand of the desert and ready to lash out. After that, he had let the monster take control, hid himself away in the corners of his mind. He didn’t know long he had stayed there, but when he had woken up, it was to pain. Her face had been inches away from his, blood running down her skin and the sun-blonde hair tinted in red. As he had confusedly stared on, he had noticed the fox with nine tails she was sitting on.

His last realization had been that she was like him.

When he had woken up, it wasn’t to the voice in his head, but to arguing.

“What were you thinking? The Kazekage’s son?”

“He started it! Besides, didn’t you say the Kazekage just died?”

“You’re such a child, Naruto. What part of ‘stay low-key’ didn’t you understand?”

“What part of ‘he went nuts’ didn’t you understand?”

There had been a pause.

“He is just like me, Ero-sennin! But something with his thing is different. He’s talking to it!”

Another pause Gaara had used to look around. He had been lying on a cot, the voices he had been hearing coming from people talking at the end of the thin paper wall.

“Can you hear the Kyuubi?”

“Sometimes he grumbles about one thing or the other, but I feel it as soon as he starts building the connection and I can just cut it off. I don’t think that guy can, though.”

Silence. Then, the door had been slid open. A big man, he had later come to know as Naruto’s sensei Jiraiya the Sannin, had stepped in, closely followed by the blonde herself. As they had approached him, the sand had already started moving in defense and he had sat up. But without minding it, they had crouched before him.

“’Love’? What kind of seal is that and why doesn’t mine have a pretty meaning?”

“Idiot! You’re learning fuinjutsu since you can think and you can’t detect when a seal is being concealed?” She had rolled her eyes and whined.

“But all that textbook crap is making my head hurt!”

The man had only pulled a piece of paper out and given her a bottle of ink and a brush. The girl had grasped the material and had started scribbling something down, Jiraiya watching over her back and after a while, nodding in approval. In response to that, she had triumphantly raised the sheet then, attempting to close the distance to where his seal lay, but he hadn’t let her. The sand had been blocking his body in defense. She had frowned.

“How often do you hear him?” she had asked him.

“Always,” he had answered.

“Then let me help or you’ll get early wrinkles from the lack of sleep.”

He didn’t know what had made him lower his defenses. Maybe because he had known that she had beaten him once, and had additional help to do it again; maybe it was because they hadn’t tried to harm him while he had been sleeping; or it could be just because he was so tired and she offered an insane sounding offer to help.

She had pressed the sheet on his seal. Painlessly, without any other sensation really, he had watched them watching his face in a concentrated fashion.

“That happens when you let old farts do a seal. No innovation, at all. How ancient is this shit?”

The man had rolled his eyes and hit the back of her head with his hand. “When you innovate without being an Uzumaki, chances are high that you’re dead by the end of your attempts. The seal is a good one, I don’t know whether it can be improved.”

She had raised her head indignantly. “Of course it can! You just have to –“ She had raised her brush, attempting to bring it near his face, but not only the sand, but also the man’s hand had raised in defense.

“Are you stupid? This is a seal containing a bijuu, you can’t just play around with it! First, you’ll make me a design example, then I’ll decide what to do with it.”

He had chosen that moment to escape from these odd people, but they had appeared only one week later, the man with a desperate expression, Naruto with a determined one.

“When this goes wrong, we’re so fucked…” he had been grumbling. But he wouldn’t have needed to worry, because in the meantime, Gaara had gotten over his initial confusion and hadn’t been planning on letting them touch him again.

That had ended in another fight in the far ends of the desert. He had probably let his inner demon out again, because his memories of that event were still blurry. But he remembered how he had woken up, not to Naruto’s or Jiraiya’s or his mind’s voice, but for the first time, to silence.

Naruto’s seal had worked and her success had marked the official beginning of their friendship.

She had stayed for some weeks before leaving for the sake of travelling again. But he had seen her again half a year later, as they stopped in Suna again for a week’s stay.

“Why does this village still not have a Kage?” she had asked after a while.

“Because I want to become the Kazekage and I am trying to prove myself to council,” he had answered.

She had looked surprised. “Why's that?”

“When I’m the Kazekage, I have the power to get you out of Uzu. You mentioned you do not like it there.”

Her face had morphed into a grimace. “That’s not possible, Gaara. I’m promised to Konoha, and I literally mean _promised_. I’ll marry someone from there in about four years from now.”

Gaara had understood what Konoha had been trying to do. Claiming a jinchuurki. It sickened him how the likes of him and Naruto were being used like mere armours by the villages. “It wouldn’t be the first time that the villages had started a war for gaining a jinchuurki.”

She had looked angry, furious at that. “You want to become the Kazekage to start a war with Konoha to get me to Suna?”

“Naruto, they are only using us.”

“And you will only use them if you go through with what you’re planning.” She still had the unique ability to make guilt rise up in him. “You can’t toy with people’s lives, Gaara.”

“They’ve been toying with ours all along.”

“If you plan on taking the revenge route, you won’t become happy. I don’t know about you, Gaara, but I _will_ become happy, whether you, my fiancé, or any godforsaken village in this world will allow it or not.”

Her words had effectively silenced him, leaving him to ponder his own thoughts.

“And don’t think the people won’t notice whether you love this village or not. As long as you don’t, they won’t let you become their Kage.”

Years had passed since that conversation, but Naruto had never trusted him with the topic of Konoha and her engagement. She had refrained from speaking about it and hadn’t told him anything about her fiancé, although she had seemed to have a vague idea who he was. Until about two months ago.

She had sent a letter to him with one of her toad summons that both annoyed and amused Gaara. There hadn’t been any information about Konoha in her letter, but she had mentioned the name of her fiancé. _Shikamaru Nara._ She didn’t tell what skills the man had or what kind of position he had in the system of Konoha. Instead, it was like a list of praises she rattled off about him. After adjectives like s _weet, helpful, humble, smart, cool, cute, did-I-mention-sweet_ were thrown around, he had laid the letter to the side.

Gaara knew that Naruto wouldn’t lie to him, but he also knew how naïve the girl was.

He had sagged back into his chair, watching the pile of paperwork that would have been finished if Naruto wouldn’t have sent her letter. _Shikamaru Nara_. The name had seemed familiar, he had heard it somewhere.

Pensively, he had stood up and stepped towards the book shelf in his office, pulling the bingo book out to start searching under the name ‘Nara’. The first register was under the name of ‘Shikaku Nara’. Briefly looking over the picture, he had halted. And had remembered Shikamaru Nara.

The resemblance was clear and as soon as he had seen the face in the man’s entry, his mind had vividly supported him with the picture of the boy that Temari had fought during _that_ Chunin exams. At that moment he had been regretting not paying too much attention on her battle, as he had been too lost in his blood lust to inspect that too closely. But he had remembered how Temari’s victory hadn’t been an easy one, the strategies the boy had used had thrown her off balance. At the end, the boy had forfeited with his dignity intact.

Months had passed since that realization, but he had refrained from acting upon what was happening, because he knew how disappointed Naruto would be if he would.

That was why he had been caught in surprise, when after falling back into his familiar routine, Shikamaru Nara was standing in his office, behind another Konoha nin who gave him the scroll he had been expecting from Konoha for some time now.

Although years had passed since their first encounter, Gaara knew right away that this was him. He resembled the looks of ‘Shikaku Nara’ even more than some years ago and although he had grown, broadened and had lost the little baby fat he had been carrying, the Kazekage could distinguish him as the one he had seen during the exams.

But now that the chance had presented itself, he couldn’t just ignore it. He wanted to make sure that that the Nara really was a good person and Naruto not just too good willed to be tricked into thinking that. Therefore, he held him back and asked to talk with him when the Konoha shinobi were about to exit.

“I would like to congratulate you on your engagement,” he said after the other had sat down, as it was the first thing that came to his mind and also directly referred to the topic he wanted to speak about.

“Thank you,” Nara said without missing a beat. The silence between them grew and filled with tension, as he watched the other watch him. Naruto’s fiancé’s face was stony, not showing any emotions he could be feeling. Gaara couldn’t even detect whether the Nara was surprised by his words or not.

“She has been singing her praises about you, but I am sure you have noticed how starry eyed she can be at times. I am her friend and I just want to make sure she is happy.” He let the hint of a warning seep into his voice. Naruto was his best friend and his savior from himself. Therefore, he felt the need to look out for her.

But the other’s face didn’t change. “I am glad to call Naruto my fiancé.” His voice was calm and Gaara realized that he wouldn’t be getting any information from the person before him other than the fact that he was good at hiding his thoughts and emotions.

He gave one last nod. “I am sorry to have held you up. Have a comfortable stay in Suna.”

The other nodded, stood up, and left the room.

.

Asuma and Genma had been waiting for Shikamaru to step out of the Kazekage’s office for about five or ten minutes. Both were curious about why he had wanted to talk to the Nara heir in the first place. But it didn’t take long for Shikamaru to open the door, exit, and close it shut behind him.

His face was unreadable and stony.

“Let’s go and find an inn.”

They moved in the direction of the exit; they would ask him later in private what the Kazekage had wanted to talk about. The walk to an inn in the outer parts of the village was silent and tense. They booked a room with three beds and went to enter it in a heavy atmosphere.

That’s why the sound of Shikamaru hitting the bathroom door shot after storming into the room almost hurt their ears. Before either of them could react, they could hear the clear sound of a mirror being shattered violently.

Hurriedly, Asuma had rushed to the door, Genma following close behind. Inside, Shikamaru was standing and breathing heavily, barely concealed violence humming in every fiber of his being. Neither of them had ever experienced him like this.

Asuma was the first one to push his perplexity to the side and rush towards the boy to grasp his shoulders with both hands. “What is it Shikamaru?”

But Shikamaru’s eyes were firmly fixed on the mirror shards on the ground. “I hope they pay for that”, he muttered. “I hope they pay that with the taxes of the Suna citizens, no, I hope the _Kazekage_ has to come up with that.” His voice grew louder with every word, almost taking a hysterical tint to it.

Genma thought he would _never_ let this die down. After some months they would all have a good laugh at how Shikamaru was acting currently.

The boy rushed into the other room again and sat on one of the beds laying his head into his hands. Harshly, he combed his finger through his strands making the all too familiar pony tail come undone, in a failing attempt to calm himself down.

“The guy has some nerve,” he laughed bitterly and in a tone that caused Genma to shiver slightly. “’Friend’ he said. What the hell does he mean ‘friend’? Boyfriend? Ex boyfriend? An affair?”

Genma’s head started to pound. They were tired, dirty, hungry, and Shikamaru’s words weren’t making any fucking sense.

Asuma breathed in, and out. He crouched before his student’s sitting form. “Shikamaru. What did he say?”

Shikamaru looked up, but his eyes were somewhere else entirely. “Said ‘he wants to make sure she’s happy’. Who the fuck does he think he is?” He stood up, shaking Asuma off, and started pacing the room up and down. “I don’t care what kind of relationship he had or has with Naruto,” he ranted and it was pretty apparent that he _did_ care about it, “but if he comes near _my fiancé_ , I won’t care whether he’s the Kazekage, or –“

“He was trying to make a move on Naruto?” Genma cut him off incredulously.

Asuma sighed. Was he supposed to deal with something like that? No one had said how hard it would be to work as a teacher when they had thrust this job upon him. “Alright, Shikamaru. You’ll report to me what happened after we left the Kazekage’s office.”

Shikamaru exhaled, visibly trying to calm himself down. “He congratulated me on my engagement. How does he even know of it? The news spread in Konoha, but how could it have arrived in Suna so fast? Has Naruto got any sort of contact –“

“Shikamaru, shut up, and simply tell me what happened,” Asuma ordered, his voice harsh and commanding. He would have never thought he would get forced to tell that to his smartest student.

The Nara nodded, momentarily collecting himself. “I thanked him. He said that Naruto has been telling him about me.”

“Did he mention what exactly?” Asuma asked suspiciously. Had the girl been carrying information out?

“Praises,” he muttered after a moment of hesitation. “’She has been singing praises about you’. Those were his words.”

“And then?” the teacher pressed on.

“Then he said he wanted to make sure that Naruto was happy, because he was her ‘friend’. Then I answered something, I don’t even remember what, and after he realized that I wasn’t going to react to his prodding, he let me go.”

Although Genma wanted to note that what the Kazekage had said might have been just that, the simple truth without a hidden meaning to it, he kept his lips pressed together. He was pretty sure the next one to provoke Shikamaru wouldn’t end up in a good place.

Asuma lit up a cigarette. “Okay Shikamaru, since you are aren’t in the position for any sort of mental work right now, _I_ am going to analyze this situation. You are tense ever since what happened with Genma and Naruto. You’ve pushed yourself to your limits on this mission. You exerted yourself physically, didn’t sleep much and ate less. _You are paranoid_.” Shikamaru’s doubt and realization was clear to see on his face. “That is why, you’ll be taking a shower, while I go grab some food. After that, you’ll eat something, then, you’ll go to sleep. Tomorrow we’ll start travelling home again. There you can talk with Naruto.”

.

In the past weeks, Naruto had adjusted to some kind of training routine. Ninjutsu was practiced with Kakashi-sensei three days a week. The one other day they trained taijutsu. The two remaining days, she trained with Hinata-chan in taijutsu as well.

It had been hard to get Hinata to spar with her at first, because she was just too much of a gentle soul to hurt anybody. But after alluding to the fact that it would be her fault if Naruto’s taijutsu wasn’t good enough at the final battles of the exams, the Hyuuga heiress had caved and started sparring with her.

Normally, Naruto wouldn’t behave manipulatively, not at all. But she believed that all the fighting would not only be of use for herself, but also for Hinata. Naruto didn’t care whether others approved of Hinata or whether her family respected her; what she did care about, was Hinata being sad when her relatives dismissed her as weak, or when she got injured during missions because she had hesitated to attack the enemy.

That was why training with her best friend had a constant spot on her schedule. Today, they had already been training for about two hours, when Naruto had finally allowed her and Hinata to take a break. They were panting heavily while sitting exhaustedly on the grass.

“Why do you even bother Hinata, when you will never be anything other than weak?” Naruto turned around at the unfamiliar voice, standing up to look at three people she had never met. One of them, the most conspicuous one, was a boy in a green spandex suit. Next to him, stood a girl whose hair had been styled into two buns. And lastly, there was the boy with long hair who had the distinctive Byakugan eyes.

As a rule of thumb, Naruto was skeptical towards the Hyuugas. Hinata was the only one of her clan she had encountered who wasn’t distant, strict or slightly arrogant. So when she laid her eyes on the guy speaking to them, she didn’t expect him to be decent in the least.

Still, the apparent animosity had surprised her. When people didn’t respect Hinata, they at least respected her position as the clan heiress.

Naruto threw her hair over her shoulder and huffed. She just instinctively felt that the guy wasn’t one you could bring to senses with words, the arrogance was that deep ingrained within them. However, she wasn’t in the mood for a fight, now that she had just finished sparring.

“Listen, when you’re finished with your alpha male talk, you can go and get lost,” she taunted. Naruto knew her voice and her words had an arrogant tint to it, but you couldn’t be humble with people like that. It was like serving them the weapons to beat you up.

Apparently, she wasn’t one of many to think that. The boy’s companions and Hinata, who was still behind her, gasped. The boy himself seemed to be surprised as well judging his silence.

She smirked. “Cat got your tongue?”

.

They hadn’t been searching for free training grounds for a long time when they had encountered Neji’s cousin Hinata and some other girl sitting right next to her on number ten. Normally she, Lee, and Neji would just leave to look for the next training ground, but her strong teammate could never contain himself from making one or another mean comment about his weaker relative.

Sometimes, Tenten would feel sorry for the self-conscious girl, but most of the time, she felt as if Hinata deserved it somehow. After all, the Hyuuga’s Main Family was responsible for the unfair system in the clan and the existence of Neji’s cursed seal. It was their fault that Neji was so miserable, and for that Tenten would never forgive any of them.

Normally, after a jeer from Neji, Hinata would sink into herself, and that is what she did this time too. However, the familiar image was being distorted by the sight of blonde hair being blown in the wind. It was a hair colour that Tenten had never seen anywhere. Speaking of it, she had never seen the girl anywhere who was now standing up and turning towards them, despite the fact that she was wearing a Konoha headband.

Although Tenten could admit that the girl was somewhat pretty, she was as stupid as you could get. But judging the severe disrespect lacing her words, it was also possible that she didn’t even know Neji. Still, that was rather improbable, seeing as he was _the_ prodigy of their generation.

“What is your rank?” Neji asked in an icy voice that made a shiver run down her back.

“Genin,” the girl proclaimed so self-confidently, as if she was saying that she was the Hokage. Tenten snorted, and Neji chuckled. Lee was unusually quite in the background.

“I knew that if you were willingly spending time with Hinata, you couldn’t be anything else than a failure, destined to be weak.”

Instead of getting mad, the girl laughed and Tenten could hear Lee muttering something about youth under his breath. “I have so many problems on my plate, my rank is the last thing I will get self-conscious about. Your arrogant bullying won’t work with me like it does with Hinata. I am not nearly as good person as her, and if you think you can make me cower, you better think twice.”

Neji sucked his breath in. “You think you’re superior to me?” His voice expressed how insane that notion was.

“Me? Maybe not. But what I know for sure is that Hinata is classes above you.”

Tenten knew that the girl had hit a nerve with her words.

“Funny that you tell me that. All my life I was told that I am beneath Hinata. Not because of her abilities, but just because of her position in the clan. But that is just how fate works. Our life is predetermined. Hinata will be weak, you will be weak and I,” he paused, “will never be able to get out of the shadow of the Main Family.”

The blonde girl sneered and Tenten found out that with the grimace decorating her face, she didn’t look half as pretty as she did before.

“I don’t give a damn about your clan or the fucked up systems in it. What I know, is that Hinata is the best person I have met and would never hurt someone willingly. Accordingly, you are just beneath because you bully her.”

A tense silence hung in the air. The girl moved to stem her hands up to her hips. “I want to fight with you!” she proclaimed and before Neji could attempt to answer her demand, Lee’s voice rang through the air.

“Truly, the power of youth shines greatly in you!”

Tenten snickered. “More like the confidence of a nut job.”

Undeterred, Neji kept on staring into the girl’s eyes. “What do you want to gain through a fight with me?”

“You think Hinata and I are weak. If I prove to you that I’m strong, you have no choice but to acknowledge that Hinata is, as well. Or at least reconsider your weird assumptions about fate again.”

A smirk spread across Neji’s face. “Very well. We will meet –“

“No,” the girl interrupted, “I want to fight you now.”

The Hyuuga frowned. “You are exhausted. It is beneath my honour to battle you in your current condition.”

In response the girl smiled, making her beauty return in full force. “So you have _some_ sensible principles, at least. That’s good, makes me recognize that you aren’t a lost cause. But I still want to fight now.”

“I told you. It is beneath my honour.”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s not like you are going to win anyway,” she taunted, “so my condition shouldn’t matter.”

“That is the spirit! Your inner fire –“

“Lee, shut up!” she cut him off, irritated.

“Look, if you are so adamant on the honour thing, we won’t let it count if you win. Just think of it as passing your time. But I’m warning you, you won’t.”

He raised an eyebrow, looking honestly curious. “Where do you get all that confidence from?”

“It isn’t confidence, but just the knowledge that losing isn’t an option.”

“Then what is?”

“Winning, or die trying.”

.

In the end, Genma didn’t know how they had covered that much ground in only a week. Neither did he have the barest idea where Shikamaru had pulled all that speed and stamina from. God damn, he had to be angry.

On the one hand, Genma was thankful that he wasn’t the target of said anger anymore. On the other, he couldn’t quite discern how Shikamaru’s present mood was supposed to be any better than what it had been before.

The boy had caught himself after what a wreck he had been following the talk with the Kazekage. But the tense and heavy atmosphere was worse than when they were travelling towards Suna.

Summing up, Genma couldn’t wait to reach Konoha and felt an immense relief when they finally recognized the all too familiar gates.

But surprisingly, he could hear the sharp intake of breath from Asuma’s direction. He turned around.

.

Asuma was cursing in his mind. God damn it, out of all the days… After many missions he had taken part in with Shikamaru, Naruto had waited for him at the gates. Therefore Asuma had planned on arriving at the border and leaving Shikamaru with her to sort whatever problem they were having out.

But out of all the missions, of course, it had to be this one, where Naruto wasn’t present.

.

Shikamaru picked up that Asuma-sensei grew concerned when Naruto wasn’t anywhere to be seen near the gates. Since that day after the talk with the Kazekage, they were somewhat wary of him. He would’ve been disgruntled about how he had completely lost his calm, if he hadn’t still been so angry. And Naruto not waiting at the gates only added confusion to the pile.

“Could I join you later to report to Godaime-sama?” he asked.

They nodded and they quickly dispersed when they stepped into the village. Shikamaru never stopped running as he steered towards his home where he would be searching for his fiancé first. God knows how many muscles he trained in all these weeks he spent almost solely running when he wasn’t fighting.

It still took him some time to reach the Nara estates since they were built at the outer parts of the village in order to stay close to the forest and the deer. Hurriedly, he pulled the door open, and ran into the kitchen where he heard noise without even toeing his shoes off.

“Mom!” She turned around from washing dishes, opening her mouth to say something – “Do you know where Naruto is?”

Confusedly she stared at him, probably not having expected that to be his first words after almost three weeks of departure.

“She has left for training,” she answered after a moment of hesitation.

He nodded his thanks and left for the training grounds.

.

Neji had been surprised to say the least. For a Genin, the girl’s skills were highly advanced. Since they had started their fight, she had been smart enough to avoid coming close to him, instead opting to choose to battle him from afar.

Neji knew that he was a genius when it came to taijutsu. The only problem was, that the girl seemed to know that, too. Seeing as she was sparring with Hinata, she had to know a thing or two about the Hyuuga fighting style, no matter how much of a failure the clan heiress was.

He had to admit that her wind-based ninjutsu techniques were starting to wear on him. They were effective in a way that without having to come close to him, she could still cause a lot of damage. Neji had taken part on many missions, but he could count his direct encounters with wind users on two hands. They were rare, even more so in Konoha. Maybe that was the reason why he didn’t expect wind to be so _sharp_.

But alas, he had found out the hard way. His clothes couldn’t ever be worn again, looking at the condition they were now in. Blood seeped down from the cuts he hadn’t been fast enough to evade.

He ran, trying to get a hold of her, because if he couldn’t close the distance between them, his victory wouldn’t come anytime soon. The girl was fast though and seemed to be as fluid as water when she evaded him and created the distance, again.

She landed on a tree branch and formed her fingers to a seal again. God damn it.

“Fuuton: Air Bullets!” she called and breathed in deeply only to release little wind globes, almost invisible but fast, and Neji was sure that they were very much able to injure. Hundreds of the wind bullets flew into his direction, and it was only due to his Byakugan that he was able to see where they were all coming from. Still, they came in such great numbers, that some of the bullets he wasn’t able to evade.

A grin spread across her face. “By the way, my name’s Naruto Uzumaki!” she proclaimed.

He raised an eyebrow wryly, never leaving her out of his sight. “And you are telling me that, why?”

“Are you kidding me? It’s common courtesy to know the name of the person you’re fighting against! After all, we’re not fighting to kill.”

He sighed and admitted grudgingly that he respected the girl for her skills. “Neji Hyuuga.”

He used that exact moment to as quickly as possible walk into her direction, jump over to where she was standing, and precisely hit a critical chakra pressure point. She made a jump and quickly got away from him, but the damage was done.

Originally, he had planned on waiting till Naruto ran out of chakra. He had thought with the amount of ninjutsu she was using, that couldn’t take too long, even more so because girls had naturally less chakra than their male counterparts. But that plan had bombed.

Naruto seemed to take the chakra to fuel her jutsus with from seemingly out of nowhere, and when Neji focused his eyes on the center of her stomach, he could see the energy still burning brightly, seemingly unaffected by how much she had already used.

Therefore, he decided to use another tactic. Disabling the tenketsu. No matter how much chakra she had, if she wouldn’t be able to work it through her chakra coils it would be useless. He had already managed to block some vital ones, and it wouldn’t take him long to get to the other ones, as well.

Without further ado, he stormed into her direction again. Yes, she was fast, but sometimes not fast enough to evade him. Just when his fingers neared a pressure point near her clavicle, she saw it fast enough to pull back. Therefore, his fingers couldn’t quite reach her, but only grasped the pendant of a necklace and ripped it off.

She had jumped backwards, but her eyes were firmly fixed on the necklace between his fingers. The stone’s surface was smooth and of green colour.

“You will return that.” Her voice was hard, icy. None of the former joy and teasing was coating it and in that moment, Neji knew that he held something in his hands that he could use against her, make her lose her temper. He put it in his pants pocket and smirked.

“Come and get it.”

She was angry, furious even, and Neji was looking for her to lose the last shreds of self-control she held and make some unforgivable mistake.

Suddenly, an odd smile spread on her face. It was disturbing to see such a drastic mood change. “You could almost call it unfair how you kekkei genkai users have a natural advantage over the rest”, she said.

“At last, you admit it. Fate gave me the Byakugan and ensured my strength in life. It is an unchangeable fact.”

She chuckled. “Don’t believe I don’t have a trick up my sleeve, as well.”

Then, something unexplainable happened. Chakra streamed out of her, so much that it was visible to even those who weren’t in possession of the Byakugan. When Neji inspected her closer, he could even discern it flowing through body parts it shouldn’t be able to access due to the blocked pressure points.

In a flash, she suddenly stood right before him, fist raised and hit his stomach with brute strength that sent his body slamming into a tree behind him. Of course, he had seen her, despite her pace, and thus, tried to defend himself. But the force was so strong, that he wasn’t able to hinder it. Almost groaning in pain, he coughed up blood. The wound hurt with a burning sensation, which seemed to fit the red, hissing chakra that surrounded her being.

Slowly, she stepped towards him, her steps heavy, and as she halted, he noticed how her eyes were fire-red and her pupils formed to slits like the ones of a cat. She raised her fist again, coated in the unfamiliar chakra, brought it down - but the impact never hit him.

A person stood between them with his back turned towards Neji. His hand was raised and holding Naruto’s wrist, the contact area hissing with how the chakra burned his skin. “That’s enough, Naruto,” the man said in a steely voice.

Just like that, the red chakra vanished and left Naruto staring up at the man’s face. “Shikamaru?”

He unclasped her wrist and turned around, crouching before a confused Neji and grasping into his pants pocket to get the pendant he took from Naruto. Then he turned back to her and pressed his palm to the small of her back.

“I think that’s enough training for today.”

.

When Naruto was standing there at the training ground, fist raised above Neji, while an unfamiliar red chakra surrounded her, Shikamaru asked himself how well he even knew her. His own answer didn’t satisfy him.

Now, that he was pulling her by her wrist through the deep forest he was even angrier. Because he still liked her, felt so possessive over her. But how can you even have such strong feelings towards someone you didn’t even know?

“Shikamaru!” she called for the umpteenth time, “What is going on with you?” He refused to answer. It wasn’t like he had any clear answers anyway. “Did something happen during your mission?”

He stopped. “How many more times are you going to surprise me?”

She made a confused face at that, her beautiful, blue eyes wide. “What do you mean?”

He sighed. “It’s funny. At the beginning, that was exactly what drew me to you. You were entertaining, a break from the constant routine of how other people work. But now –“ he inhaled, finding it hard to keep looking her in the face. “I don’t know if it isn’t getting too much for me.”

Naruto’s face crumpled, she looked so sad and Shikamaru felt like shit when he saw how dewy her eyes became. But her tears never fell. It was as if she held herself through some icy resolve despite the apparent pain in her face. Shikamaru was annoyed. _His_ life was being fucked over, so how could she make him feel so guilty?

“Am I being too overbearing for you?” Her voice was balancing, waving, almost breaking.

“My feelings are too overbearing for me.” He looked away. “Most of the time, it felt good, exciting. And I rarely got excited over anything. But –“ he groaned, pulled at the strands of his hair, “everything is getting too intense. I am all over the place.” Yes. It felt as if too many sensations were existing at once. As if the great variety, number, and strength of colours was making his head hurt. There was no balance with Naruto in his life. It was either everything or nothing.

“But why all of sudden?” she confusedly asked. He didn’t blame her. His words weren’t making any damn sense.

“Who is Gaara to you?”

“What?” Even more confused, she watched him, not understanding the sudden change of topic.

“You heard me.” She flinched at his hard, icy voice.

“I met him about two years ago,” she began hesitatingly. “He’s my friend.”

“What kind of friend?”

The hurt and confusion in her face made place for irritation. “What do you mean ‘what kind of friend’?”

“ _Boyfriend? Ex Boyfriend? Friend with benefits?_ You name it.”

She threw her hands up in the air. “Are you on drugs? Did they do something to your brain while you were gone?” Shikamaru stayed mute. “He’s a _friend_. And that’s all there is to it. To think that – that’s just plain gross.”

She looked so frank, so honestly offended by his assumption. “Just a friend?”

Blood rushed into her face. “How much more times do I have to tell you? There is only you.”

Shikamaru slid his hand in his pocket to grasp the familiar stone in it. Had everyone been right? Had he been acting paranoid, seeing ghosts? And if it was true, what did that say about him? What happened to what made him Shikamaru Nara? Where had the calm, analytical mind and intellect fled to?

The force that was Naruto Uzumaki had robbed them away.

“I’m-“ he stopped, not knowing what he should say. The smart thing to do would be to get some distance because the problem wasn’t Genma or Gaara, or even his jealousy. No, the problem was that Naruto had managed to turn, not only his life, but _him_ , upside down.

However, before he could gather the guts to word his thoughts, he suddenly couldn’t. He couldn’t because he was physically unable to. The lips pressing on his own lips hindered him from making a single sound. But before he could properly take in the softness of her full lips, the scent of her hair when she was standing so close to him, and the slight press of her hands against his chest as she leaned towards him, she had already pulled away.

Shikamaru was stunned. There was blissful silence in his head; all of his questions, concerns, and doubts vanished.

Naruto embarrassedly turned away. “Idiot…” she muttered.

Because Shikamaru couldn’t think anymore, he stopped trying, and instead, acted. Before Naruto could widen the distance between them, one hand was already at the small of her back, pulling her towards him, while his other hand had grabbed her blonde strands to move her head up, to look at him.

With that, he leaned down to press his lips on hers again, and didn’t relax his hold on her hair to prevent her from moving away. Becoming greedy, he traced his tongue out of his mouth and pushed it against hers. Shikamaru didn’t know why she opened her lips immediately, whether it was surprise or something else entirely. He didn’t care.

All that he knew in that moment, was that a part of him was _in_ Naruto, wet and warm. He moved his tongue against hers and she moved back, as if they instinctively knew how to dance to the rhythm of an unfamiliar song.

He shouldn’t get that excited over shoving his tongue into another one’s mouth, but he did. He got high on it, because it wasn’t just about that. It was about how they moved their lips against each other, panted because they forgot to breathe through their noses, the feeling of Naruto’s hair and the sound she made when he pulled it too harshly, her hands that were clinging to the back of his neck, and how he could feel her warm, soft body against his.

Shikamaru pulled back. Air, he needed air. His forehead still pressed against hers, he panted heavily and looked into her eyes.

His mind was blank, his thoughts having seemingly dissolved themselves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, one of my longer chapter... How'd you feel about it?


	16. 16

Shikamaru was stunned speechless. Somewhere in his mind, wheels started turning, analyzing and frantically trying to supply him with the best possible action he should take now. But before he could even begin to compare those possibilities, Naruto had already acted. She was always the faster one out of the two of them.

“We’ll be late for dinner.” Numbly, he stood still and didn’t answer. “You should really eat something. You don’t look too good. Did the mission wear on you?”

“If only you knew,” he grumbled, although he was happy with the familiar concern in her voice that gradually put him at ease.

Shikamaru didn’t know what _this w_ as. There were too many questions swirling in his head, franticly waiting to be answered. Starting from the Gaara problem, to the strange chakra that surrounded her during her fight with Neji, and ending with the issue of what had just transpired between them.

He sighed, feeling the effect of the last weeks weighing heavily on him. For a change, Shikamaru wasn’t in the mood to inspect all of these problems.

“Come.” He looked up when he felt her narrow arm slide around his. When she started to walk, he followed.

.

Their walk had been quiet. Not awkward, nor comfortable.

Shikamaru didn’t even try to initiate conversation, as he had decided to leave any further actions to a time when he had rested enough to trust himself. Obviously, he had made some rather questionable choices earlier when he wasn’t in his right mind.

 _‘But it wasn’t you who started it,’_ the part of his mind, which couldn’t let the matter rest, supplied. Indeed, it had been Naruto who had first kissed him. Granted, it hadn’t been with the same enthusiasm that he had responded with, but it still must have meant something. Or did it? Did she just do that to shut him up? It had been pretty apparent that she had been unhappy about how he had talked with her about Gaara.

Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at her. Naruto’s hair that was normally up in a ponytail when she trained, looked messy. Strands were looking out of place, part of her clothing was torn, dirt caked various parts of body and fabric, and sweat and blood had dried on her skin. It was a mixture that was entirely unappealing. That is why it didn’t make any sense that he still wanted to press her against his body, pull that messy hair with one of his hands, and repeat that kiss all over again. He sighed, trying to take his eyes off of her.

Naruto halted, and he stopped in his tracks right after. Misinterpreting his sigh, she inspected him concernedly with her eyes.

“Are you injured?”

He shrugged lightly. “Not really.”

She met his stare. “Not really?”

“Just exhausted”, he downplayed.

Then she started walking again, one arm still tightly hooked around his. “Have you come to me right after you arrived in the village?”

“Pretty much.”

Now she was the one to sigh. “Your mother will be concerned.”

.

When they had finally arrived home, his parents’ voice washed over him like background noise. What little energy reserves he had, were depleting fast, and there was nothing he would like more than to drop on the floor and sleep for a week.

Despite that, he pushed himself to the bathroom in order to take a quick bath. But as soon as he lay down in the tub full of hot water, he couldn’t bring himself to lift even just a finger. In bliss, he closed his eyes, completely relaxing. When he reopened them, he spotted the bottle that Naruto had used when she had drawn him a bath some time ago.

Lazily, he lifted his hands to grasp and unclasp the bottle, only to drip some of the lavender-scented fluid into the water. Bubbles built in the water and only made him remember that particular day more vividly.

Shikamaru didn’t know how much time had passed when he heard the tentative knocking on the door. He hummed in response, just about to nod off completely.

“Shikamaru?” It was Naruto’s scratchy voice. He hummed again in acknowledgement, ignoring her otherwise. “Dinner’s ready soon,” she called, but this time around, he didn’t answer at all.

Slowly, the doorknob turned down. Apparently he had forgotten to lock the door in his exhaustion either. “I thought you’d drowned.”

He opened his eyes and moved them to catch the sight of her head peeking through the door swell. Her hair was wet, she had probably just taken a shower herself. “I think I’ll skip dinner,” he murmured.

Naruto questioningly raised one eyebrow. “Do you skip bed, too?”

He felt the corners of his lips unwillingly lift slightly upwards. “Maybe.”

She sighed, and moved into the room to shut the door behind her. Swiftly, but softly she walked towards the back of the tub, until he could only feel the warmth of a person looming over him. “You haven’t washed your hair yet, have you?” He hummed in negation.

Another sigh before he felt the familiar sensation of nimble fingers, coated with cool shampoo massaging into his scalp. “Come on, Shikamaru. You’ll do your body, while I do your hair, or else we’re never going to get finished.” She paused in her movements. “I don’t know whether your parents are aware that I’m with you.” Shikamaru could imagine the blush on her face.

He chuckled but made no move otherwise to comply with her instructions. “They already suspect that something’s going on between us two. This wouldn’t catch them off-guard.” She stopped in her movements once again. “Has my father mentioned to you that he wants to have us a house built?”

She hesitantly started moving her fingers once again. “Is there?” she asked quietly.

“What?”

“Something going on between us?”

He opened his eyes, his face suddenly void of all the exhaustion that was wearing on him. Although he knew that Naruto hadn’t told him all that she knew about this whole marriage arrangement and was keeping secrets from him, he knew how to keep a straight face himself. As a ninja, he knew how to mask his emotions.

“It is what you want it to be.” Slowly, he leaned his head further back till he could lock eyes with her. “What do you want it to be?”

For a while, she just stared at him, seemingly contemplating. The tension in the room sharpened with every passing second, till she finally made a move. Without hesitance, but without a rush, she moved her head, slowly lessening the distance between them till her face was in a parallel position to his, mere inches separating them. Her long hair that fell downwards shielded him from the pale bathroom light, making it easier for him to look into her eyes.

But he only broke his calm posture when Naruto finally closed the distance completely, her soft lips touching his. With both hands he caught her face between them, pressing them together even further, till she eventually moved away.

When they looked each other in the eyes again, it was as if they had come to a silent understanding.

“So what is it with you and Gaara?” he asked promptly. Still deeply exhausted, he wasn’t in the mood to play games or pry the truth out of her. Shikamaru just wanted clear answers, for once.

Naruto resumed on washing his hair. “It is nothing you’re making it out to be. We’re friends.” After his prolonged silence, she sighed. “What is up with you? You don’t get these fits about my other friends.”

“Because they are somewhat trustable.”

A scoff. “And I count as un-trustable.”

“I never said that,” he countered tiredly.

“Why else won’t you believe me?”

Shikamaru stayed perfectly calm as he let the question occupy his mind. He came to a conclusion fairly quickly.

“You’re right. I don’t trust you.”

At that, she stopped washing his hair altogether with an angry huff and Shikamaru had the suspicion that he would have to do the rest of the work himself. Naruto stood up and moved towards the side of the tub, away from the back and met his stare as she leaned with her back against the hard porcelain. Although he was so tired he could fall asleep right then and there, he couldn’t just let this conversation go.

“After all, I am not the one who is keeping secrets.”

Her limbs stiffened and it was a tell that only reaffirmed Shikamaru in his suspicions. She knew something about the marriage arrangements and she had ties with Gaara. Furthermore, there was the fact that he had only just seen that odd red chakra surround her body that he had no explanation for.

Shikamaru contemplated these thoughts and he concluded that he _should_ be at least a little angry. After all, Naruto’s secrets did clearly not only concern her. They were both in the same boat but his fiancé refused to share vital information with him.

However, what actually annoyed Shikamaru, was the fact that he was not angry. Instead, he was intrigued, almost glad that she hadn’t uncovered her secrets, so he could deliciously plan on finding everything out himself. A puzzle was only nice to look at, if you had gone through the work of putting it together. Otherwise the resulting image was merely mundane.

“I don’t trust you,” he repeated slowly, as Naruto determinedly looked away, head ducking in an almost shameful way. He lifted his right arm out of the now lukewarm water to touch the blonde hair that was pressed against the tub. Naruto, who had felt the grasp of his fingers, hesitatingly turned around, a questioning look on her face. As if in a daze, his palm moved towards the back of her neck, and pulled her towards him.

She let herself be guided, as he met her halfway, and without hesitation pushed his tongue between her soft lips and into the warm cavern of her mouth. Energy, that he had thought had long left him, returned with full force and let his blood hum in desire. In the back of his head, he noticed how the girl had put both hands on his shoulders, her fingernails slightly pressing into his flesh, as he forcefully moved his mouth towards hers, tongue catching hers.

When they broke apart, he didn’t know who had stopped first, but their foreheads were still leaning against each other as they breathed heavily. Not breaking eye-contact, he was the first one to speak.

“I don’t trust you, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like you.”

At that, Naruto stared at him with a look he couldn’t place, as she leant back and placed a soft, tender kiss on his chapped lips.

“I don’t deserve you,” she whispered.

It threw Shikamaru off-guard. Naruto looked self-conscious, even vulnerable and it was an expression he had never spotted on her before. Usually, she was happy, strong and energetic, a stark contrast from how she was acting now.

But before he could decipher the situation, his fiancé had already moved away. “You only have to wash the suds away. I’m about to miss dinner.” With these words, she left the room swiftly, almost fleeing.

Shikamaru watched the door close, quietly contemplating for some time before deciding to finish his buisness before exhaustion could overcome him again.

.

When he woke up, he felt drowsy and a little disoriented. His inner clock was confused and he had no idea what time of the day it was. Though there was some sunlight peeking from the edges of the curtains that he didn’t remember drawing.

Shikamaru kept on lying for a while, thinking about nothing really, still tired. Now that he had given his body the chance to rest properly, he felt even sorer as his muscles attempted to recover. That mission had been hell.

The noise of his stomach rumbling interrupted his thoughts. He felt so exhausted that even his enormous hunger had escaped his notice for a while. But now he was feeling it with full force. Yet, he didn’t make a move, too tired to make an attempt to move out of bed. Even more tired than yesterday when he had skipped dinner in favour for sleep.

He didn’t know how much time had exactly passed, when the door to his room opened slightly. From where he was lying he could spot his mother’s face peaking inside. When she looked at him, she smiled.

“Good, you’re awake.”

Swiftly she walked inside. Balancing a tray of food effortlessly in one of her hands. Briefly, she halted to put the tray on his nightstand, only to move away and draw the curtains, letting sunlight stream into the room. When the sudden light assaulted his eyes, he hissed and stifled his head in the pillows.

“Don’t be such a child,” his mother chided, not quite nagging, but not entirely sweet either. “It’s after 4pm, already. You’ve been sleeping for some time now.”

When he hesitatingly let his eyes adjust to the lack of darkness, he noticed her sitting on a chair she must have pulled from where his desk was located.

“Don’t get any crumbs on the bed. This is a one-time-thing, just so you know.”

In response to that, he grumbled something even incoherent to him and hoisted himself up against the pillows, muscles screaming in protest. Then, he put the tray on his lap. There was regular breakfast, but the plates were filled with more food than he could eat at one time. Still without a comment, he began eating.

“Are you injured?” In that moment the full force of his mother’s concern shone through and there was nothing left of her normally hard demeanor.

“I’m fine.”

“You should still get yourself a check-up at the hospital, just to be sure.”

“I’m alright,” he persisted.

There was silence then for a while, only the noise of chopsticks hitting plates cutting through it.

“Your father is sending for the architects next weekend.” He stopped his hand directing the chopsticks picking some egg midway to his mouth.

“I thought the house-idea wasn’t fully standing yet?” He raised one eyebrow in confusion. Sure, his father had been determined about him and Naruto getting their own place on the Nara estate, but his mother had been strongly against it. There was also the matter of, you know, Shikamaru and Naruto not being consulted in that matter. Sure they had asked him earlier, before his mission had started, but he had been indecisive then. Had they asked Naruto’s opinion while he had been gone?

His mother interrupted his thoughts with a loud sigh. Although it sounded exasperated, the expression on her face was rather sly. “Shikamaru-kun, if you two have to use the bathroom to make out secretly, it does mean that it would be better for everyone involved for you to get your own place. Your father and I are not interested in walking in on any actions that go further than that.”

At the mention of what had happened the evening before between him and Naruto, he almost got flustered. Of course, his parents had noticed. Frankly, Shikamaru hadn’t thought they wouldn’t notice. It was just that when he was with Naruto, he didn’t seem to be thinking much about anything other than her. Furthermore, he had been too damn exhausted during that scene, which was a further reason his parents hadn’t been on the long list of concerns.

What about Naruto, though? Hadn’t she considered his parents being aware of where she was when she had come into the bathroom? Right after that question passed his mind, he nearly scoffed. Who the hell even knew what was going through his fiancé’s head? Shikamaru sure didn’t and he wasn’t in the mood to ponder it.

However, it was a fact that both of his parents were trained shinobi. Even his mother who had ‘only’ reached the rank of a chunin and had been inactive for many years, had kept her honed instincts.

He sighed. His own house. God damn it, did he even want that?

But his mother ignored his mild distress, stood up and started pacing the room up and down, clearly in thought, till she finally stopped. “I'll admit, when your father had been telling me about arranging this marriage for the first time, I hadn’t believed that the situation would turn out like this.”

He scoffed lightly. “None of us did.” It was the nearest he had come to admitting to his family how close he had gotten to Naruto.

Yoshino looked him in the eyes for a while then, before searching in the pocket of her thin jacket and pulling out a familiar green pendent. “You forgot this in your dirty pants yesterday evening.”

Wordlessly, he reached his hand out to grasp the necklace, only to swiftly tie it back across his neck again.

.

After his meal, he felt a little too restless to fall asleep, probably because he had already slept for too long. Still, his body was exhausted, so he resided to lying on the roof of the vast house to soak up the last rays of sun before winter eventually swallowed them all.

He didn’t notice at what point he dozed off, but he grew conscious to the additional presence on his resting place as soon as it was near him. Tiredly, he opened his eyes, only to spot the familiar blonde hair lightly swaying in the wind.

“Training’s over?” he murmured sleepily.

She hummed in response. “Today was ninjutsu with Kakashi-sensei.”

He eyed her from her face down to her feet. There where light traces of blood on her clothes, but no visible wounds on her body. The blood must have been someone else’s then, since it would’ve been impossible for a wound to heal that fast and not leave a scar behind.

“I’m regretting not paying attention at the preliminary battles. I’ve got no idea what my opponent’s going to be like.”

“You’ll manage,” he said honestly. She shrugged, almost a little insecure in her movements. “What?” he inquired.

“While you were gone Tsunade called me over. She has forbidden me from using fuinjutsu.” Surprised, he lifted his eyebrows, silently asking for elaboration. “Baa-chan said something along the lines of her not wanting the other villagers to find out who I am.”

There it was again. The suspicion, no, the knowledge that some people around him knew more about Naruto than he did. But he had alluded that to the night before and Naruto had only evaded his question.

Naruto sighed. “Ero-sennin had always told me not to rely on Fuinjutsu so much, but-“ she interrupted herself. He looked towards her, nodded, prodding her to continue. “But I did anyway. It was the only thing I was good at. I was horrible at anything else, still am in comparison to my sealing so…” she shrugged, avoiding his piercing stare, “I don’t know. I guess it was the one thing that made me feel good about myself.”

Shikamaru was struck still. Shit. He had absolutely no idea how to respond because it was a situation he had only ever been exposed to once the night before. The Nara heir had almost only ever dealt with his fiancé when she had been happy, optimistic or confident. Those traits were so typical to her character that he eventually always started to associate them with her. Of course, he somehow knew that this couldn’t have been all there was to Naruto, but he had shoved those thoughts away in favour of dealing with more immediate problems.

“It shouldn’t be something for you to get upset over,” he murmured, eyes settling on hers. He had made a decision. Shikamaru would counter this situation with honesty. As long as he had known Naruto, which admittedly, wasn’t _that_ long, she hadn’t minded honesty.

Although a petty part of his mind argued that she wasn’t being completely open to him, he’d be frank towards her. “It’s natural. You can’t excel at everything and there will always be something you’ll be embarrassingly bad at. Even - no, especially, the most talented geniuses have some sort of fault to their being.”

Vivid images of Sasuke Uchiha and his comrades sitting in the same classroom assaulted his mind. The supposed rookie of their year. Look where it had got him. Pushing these thoughts away, which he was still too tired to deal with, he turned to Naruto again.

Although she tried watching the scenery, her eyes met his on occasion, her shoulders still slightly hunched. “But sealing is really the only thing I’m naturally good at. I feel as if,” she groaned in frustration. “As if I have to work three times as hard to get to the same results as everyone else.”

“Don’t view that as a fault,” he countered. At that, Naruto finally turned fully into his direction, listening attentively. “Others would’ve quit long ago if they were being faced with such difficulties. But you’re determination is what keeps you going and what will help outside of your training as well.”

The girl didn’t answer, seemingly pondering what he had said. After a short pause, he continued.

“Besides, our qualities do not only restrict themselves to nin-, tai-, or genjutsu. Other traits are important for being a shinobi, too. You’re good with people, for example.”

“I’m not,” she huffed.

He drew his eyebrows together. “Of course you are. Almost everybody likes you.”

“No,” she deadpanned.

“I do,” he countered, before he could think better of it. He had been so focused on beating Naruto in this battle of words that he had bluntly told her about his feelings about her again, this time without his exhaustion that he could blame it on. Unable to retort anything further, he simply watched her face lighten up in surprise and the corners of her mouth lift upwards. That look made him stop regretting what he had said.

Yet before he could think of anything else, Naruto had already leaned over, and placed a kiss on his lips. It was sweet, yet short, and Shikamaru could only stare baffled at her while she pulled away. She smiled.

“And that’s all that counts?”                                                                                                        

“What?”

He had forgotten what he had said. He was lost in her gleaming eyes, her beaming smile, her bronzed skin and everything else that was Naruto. The energy that filled him by watching her appearance made his earlier exhaustion seem like a mere memory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 16 already! How was it?


	17. 17

**.**

Shikamaru refrained from coughing noisily as he pulled some dusty scrolls out of wooden shelves that were filled with other scriptures. The time he had gotten off after the last hellish mission, he had decided to spend on something he wasn’t quiet used to spending time on: research.

He had always been exceptionally intelligent. The kind of intelligence that grasped problems quickly, thought of hundreds of processes at the same time, was aware of everything that surrounded him and was apt enough to think about matters more logically.

That’s why he had never felt the need to honestly research with as much fervour as he was doing now. But he had figured that he needed some additional information if he ever wanted to solve the problem that was Naruto Uzumaki.

Her not being allowed to use her sealing techniques during the final exams stuck in his head and brought the ball rolling. Why didn’t Tsunade want Naruto’s fuinjutsu skills to get shown? After all, the chunin exams also served as a display of power to the other villages.

The obvious answer would be that the Hokage didn’t want his fiancé’s heritage to become public. According to what Naruto had told him back when he had just met her, the Uzumakis were feared and extinguished precisely because of these skills.

That would make sense, if it wasn’t for the fact that no one ever tried to hide her family history in the first place. No, her last name was on blatant display for everyone who wanted to know.

So what was it that her sealing skills could betray if not her mother’s family?

Since he could think of nothing else, he tried to gain some kind of knowledge. Maybe if he had more pieces, the puzzle would eventually make more sense.

But the books and scrolls in the shinobi library had only given him one piece of information that Naruto hadn’t told him already. Apparently, the wife of the Shodaime had been one Mito Uzumaki, most probably an ancestor of Naruto. That fact made him halt for a moment. Consequently, Naruto had to be related to the First, Second and Fifth Hokage.

Tiredly, Shikamaru leaned back in his chair, away from the scroll he had been hunching over. He had a feeling he was missing something. It was as if his subconscious had noticed that certain something, but he wasn’t completely aware of it yet. It was as if he searched for a word that was on the tip of his tongue, just out of reach, yet vital and of great importance.

He groaned and looked towards the clock on the wall of the silent library. It was almost time for Naruto’s training to end. Although she would prefer to train until the next day without a break, Kakashi had forbidden her from doing so, since it was only a few days away from her final battle, when she would be in dire need of rest.

Slowly, he stood up, cracked his joints and began to tidy the desk he was sitting at. He could pick her up on his way home.

.

When Shikamaru arrived at Naruto’s and Kakashi’s usual training field, it was apparent that they were nearing the end of their training session. Seeing that, he sat on a branch of one of the countless trees, the girl and her teacher in clear vision, waiting for his fiancé to notice him.

Observing her, that feeling within him returned. The knowledge that he was missing a great piece of the puzzle. She looked unusual, he thought, from the way she normally looked. Of course, her hair was still blonde, her eyes still blue, but something about her current demeanour changed her whole appearance.

Absorbed in thought, he unconsciously lifted his hand to grasp the pendant of his necklace between nimble fingers.

Gone was the ever present smile on her face, replaced by grim determination and calm confidence brimming under her skin. She moved fast, though, her movements almost blurry, which made her expressions hard to catch for Shikamaru’s watchful eyes. Almost like a-

Suddenly, she landed a hit on Kakashi, he backed off and they both stopped their movements momentarily. Although her eyes weren’t on him, he had a clear frontal vision of her expression, with that sombre look still on her face.

Piercing pain penetrated his head.

A headache, he idly realized. He didn’t have them often, yet this one felt different than the rare few he did.

.

The walk home was odd. The silence between them felt unusual and Naruto’s initial joy about seeing him pick her up was quickly replaced by confusion over his shrugs and one word answers. He felt tired and the pain caused from the headache was a constant reminder.

“Are you mad at me?” Naruto had stopped in her tracks and she was staring in his eyes with a concerned expression. Her face. There was something about it that made the pain in his head spike, yet made his blood flow faster in a completely different way.

“No,” he forced out, wanting to talk further, but stopping. He wanted to say that his behaviour had nothing to do with her, but that would be somewhat of a lie. There was something about Naruto that bothered him incessantly.

Shikamaru had lied often, more times than he could count actually. Especially to enemies, but to friends and family, as well. Of course, he had a moral codex which judged what was right and wrong, but lying had always belonged in a grey area. It was nothing to be proud of, but compared to everything he had to do on a regular basis for his village, his family and his people, it seemed unimportant. ‘Don’t lie’ was nothing more than a bedtime story, really.

But something in him resisted against it. When he looked in Naruto’s sky-blue eyes, something made his heartbeat adopt an irregular beat, his pulse quicken and his brain switch off its functions. Shikamaru knew that she was keeping secrets not solely concerning her from him, and he knew that no matter how naive or innocent she appeared to be at times, she was far from being an angel. Her slate, like all ninjas’, wasn’t clean. Still, he didn’t want to lie to her.

Casually, he placed his left hand on the small of her back to urge her to move on. After initially stumbling over her feet, she complied.

“No? That’s it? Is that you being passive aggressive?” They turned into a side street, free of the many villagers blocking the way on the main road, his hands still on her body. “Because you can be active aggressive with me, you know? You can talk to me when I’ve done something wrong, I won’t get offended. Anyway, I like it when you’re being active-“

Abruptly, without any contemplation, he shoved her towards the brick wall of an apartment building. In a matter of mere seconds his hands that had rested on her back slid downwards, across her butt, towards the naked flesh of her thigh. Gripping them, he hoisted her legs up around his waist as he pressed his body against hers. Although Shikamaru wasn’t a mass of muscles, he was still well-trained and Naruto was rather small and didn’t weigh much in his arms.

In no time he was licking his way into her mouth, not only enjoying the taste, but the swell of her chest against his, the noises of surprise and pleasure she was making.

“You like me being active?” he laughed under his breath. “Naruto, what is going on in that head of yours all day long?” Slowly he kissed and sucked all the way down from her lips towards her neck. She was sensitive there, he had noticed in the past days. In that period, a weird atmosphere had established itself between them. Sometimes, when he couldn’t take it anymore, and the air got too tense, something similar to this happened. Yet thinking of it, he had never been this aggressive before.

But Shikamaru couldn’t resist. When he saw her come undone, losing the last shreds of her self-control and knowing it was all _his_ doing, he felt himself shiver under his skin. It was a rare sensation of power that took his breath away, being aware that for a change, _he_ wasn’t the one lost and confused in the process of figuring this relationship out.

For a split moment, he asked himself what that fact said about him. But in the next second, worries were lost when he registered how Naruto was throwing her head back, giving him more room to work on her throat, gripping his hair tightly, the occasional whimpers making the blood in his veins hum.

“Shikamaru-“ her voice was a hushed whisper, “we could be seen, we could be – we’re still outside-“

Slowly, he pulled away, his forehead moving to lean against hers, her whole weight still resting in his hands as they both panted heavily.

“Nice distraction technique,” the girl commented wryly.

He smirked. “It wasn’t.”

“No?” Her voice was suspicious.

“I was merely selfishly motivated.” His laugh was almost silent and his headache had vanished. Forgotten were the problems that were on his mind only minutes ago.

.

When they finally arrived home, his father had already returned as well, talking about his day to his mother.

“Finally!” Yoshino exclaimed when they entered the kitchen where she was stirring pots at the stove. “Where have you been? It’s gotten late!”

Shikamaru knew that if he would give Naruto an opportunity to answer that question, she would only stumble and mumble over her words like she usually did when she thought of what they both did in private. It wasn’t like _he_ was flaunting their relationship for everyone to see, or whatever you would call it that they both shared. The Nara was just generally better at keeping his cool and appearing nonchalant in front of others.

That’s why he cut his fiancé off before she could even attempt to retort. “Kakashi wanted to train longer today.” The simplest of lies, were usually the most convincing ones. And although his parents were good at spotting them, Shikamaru was better at telling them.

Naruto walked through the room and leaned over Yoshino’s shoulder. “What are you cooking?” she asked curiously.

Lazily, Shikamaru sat down on one of their chairs and leaned his elbow against the table. It was strange to see the girl interact with his mother. When they had met for the first time, they had instantly clicked, and they had been extremely friendly with each other since. Both women seemed to be of one heart and a shiver ran down Shikamaru’s spine when he was reminded of the saying that you married your parents. God, he hoped that wasn’t true.

“Tempura,” his mother answered.

“Wow, you have to teach me some time,” the girl remarked while observing Yoshino work.

His mother laughed, running one hand affectionately through the blonde’s hair. “You go take a shower first. There’ll be plenty of time for anything else later.”

His fiancé grinned in response. “I’ll take you at your word," she remarked before leaving the room for shower.

“How was it at the library?” his father, who had been silent until then, asked.

“As usual,” Shikamaru answered shortly. He’d bet his holidays that whatever he had been searching for all day long, his father already knew. He’d bet the pendant around his neck that the man wouldn’t tell his son what he wanted to know.

The older man sighed. “The architects will be coming by tomorrow. Make sure you’ll be home at around noon. Will Naruto be home as well?”

“Yes.”

.

“So tomorrow?”

“Yeah.”

“Have you got any plans?”

“No.”

“Is that you being passive aggressive again?”

He grinned. “Want to provoke me into being active again?”

Naruto rolled her eyes. “That was your lewd interpretation of things. I’m not trying anything.” She was lying sprawled across his bed while he had sagged into the sofa. Naruto lacked her usual energy, and was lazing bone-tired while comfortably talking to him about the architects that’d be visiting the next day.

Slowly, she turned to lie on her stomach so she could look at him while talking. “Hey Shikamaru?”

“Hmm?” He was tired himself, but he ditched the thought of dozing in favour of watching his fiancé rolling in his bed.

“When we move into the new house, will we be sleeping in the same room?”

Shikamaru stilled, pondering. He'd never even contemplated matters like that and the question caught him off-guard. But now that she'd reminded him of it… It would still be some time until they could actually _move_ into their own place. After all, there was no house to speak of at the moment. Although building it would take a relatively small amount of time considering his family’s financial resources, he wasn’t sure if they’d be that far into their relationship that they’d actually share a room, let alone a bed.

“We can look into that later,” he answered evadingly.

Naruto scrunched her pale eyebrows up. “But don’t we have to have the house built according to those plans? We have to know beforehand, so we can tell the architects tomorrow.”

Shikamaru exhaled, thinking of how to explain to Naruto in the least tiresome way. “Have you seen the place father has prepared the house to be built?” It hadn’t come as a surprise when the Nara head had told him. It had been the only available place at the estate if they didn’t want to start chopping the woods off for some more room. The location was exactly between the other houses at the estate and the forest. Although Shikamaru hadn’t commented on it, he had secretly loved the place. Neither too isolated nor in the middle of all happenings.

“He told us. There isn’t much to miss,” Naruto responded with curious eyes trying to understand what he was trying to explain.

“A little big for one house, don’t you think?” he remarked.

“Well, the house obviously won’t take up all the-“ She stopped when she saw him grin and slightly shake his head. Her rosy lips stayed open, speechless for the moment before she gathered herself. “What – You mean?”

He didn’t change his expression.

“But – but that’s too much! Nobody needs that much space! Especially not us, seeing as we’re only two people!”

Shikamaru watched his fiancé’s disbelief. “It's not about what we need. You’ve probably noticed that _this_ house is too big for any of us as well. There are numerous rooms empty and unused, even if you take all the stuff into account that we’re aimlessly stacking because it was left for us from prior generations.”

Naruto flailed lightly. “Yes, but your father is an important man.”

Shikamaru nodded in response. “Exactly, it’s more of a symbolic importance than a matter of need. The Naras aren’t too big on demonstrating power and not too archaic when it comes to traditions, but we still stay true to the basics.”

“I get it,” she commented, “but, aren’t we just, you know, Shikamaru and Naruto? Relatively unimportant in the grand scheme of things?”

He chuckled in response. “So that’s how you see us? Unimportant?”

She huffed and rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean. To the clan we’re not as important as your father. He _is_ the clan head, after all.”

“Just like _I_ will be someday.” He averted his eyes from her to watch the plain ceiling, body sagging even more into the seat. He heard the mattress creak. Naruto had sat up.

“But isn’t there still time for that?” she asked tentatively. “You’re still young.”

Shikamaru almost rolled his eyes at her naivety. “For all I know, my father may die tomorrow in an ambush. Hell, he might decide that he wants an early retirement and I’d be stuck as the heir of his responsibilities.”

He heard her chuckle, but the sound wasn’t actually joyful. It had a bitter tint to it. “What about all these stories about people literally killing each other to get the spot of sole heir?”

“Those people don’t have half a brain to see past the glamorous veil of having the title of clan head.” He sighed and turned his head to look her in the eyes again. “Life is too short for that sort of crap.”

She grinned. “You really don’t want to become clan head, do you?” He didn’t reward that remark with an answer. Instead he opted for a wry look. “I guess none of your cousins were gullible enough to take the job?”

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. “I already tried that years ago. But neither my father nor any other clan members accepted it. Left me with all the dirty work.”

Then he heard her laugh. Honest to God open her mouth and laugh with that scratchy voice of hers. She _did_ look beautiful, but – “Really? Here I am spilling my feelings to you and that’s your reaction?” He wasn’t really disgruntled, more like intrigued.

She stood up then, walked towards his direction, before casually sitting next to him on the sofa, closing any distance that existed between them by leaning her head on his shoulder, her clearly-exhausted body relaxing.

“Of course they wouldn’t let you bail.” Her grin was bright and contagious. “Because you’re a big, smart softie. They’d be dumb to demand anyone else for the job. Although you won’t like it, you will be great at it. That’s what they’re counting on.”

It was strange to hear her exclaim that as if it was some sort of prophecy that was set in stone. Her trust in his abilities, made something within him ease, a little bit weight lifting off his shoulders.

“You better get used to it,” he grinned, “because when the time comes, you'll be right by my side." He turned his head slightly downwards to face her expression. “We’ll be living in that house for a long time. So you better think of what to tell those architects tomorrow, because it will last for more than our lifetime.”

She got a thoughtful look on her face as if she was contemplating the suggestion. The creases in her skin evened out when he leaned in to close the distance between their lips.

Shikamaru didn’t really know where these sudden desires frequently came from. But whenever they showed themselves, he didn’t reconsider them for a moment and instead, gave in to them immediately. However, that wasn’t how he usually got things done, and frankly, his unusual behaviour weirded him out.

But those thoughts only came to him when Naruto began to untangle herself from their kiss. Before he could start another attempt though, she began to speak.

“What about you? Do you know what kind of house you’d like to live in already?”

Shikamaru sighed and leaned further into his seat, only to lift his head to face the ceiling. He shrugged. “I don’t really care all that much.”

“Come on,” she prodded, “there must be something you want to have.”

Lazily, he exhaled and contemplated the question. “I guess…”

“Yeah?” He could imagine her blue orbs attentively watching his face while he spoke, although she wasn’t in his field of vision.

“A terrace. You know, like the one we have here.”

He could feel her nod against his shoulder. “Yeah, it’s especially beautiful to sit there when the weather’s nice.”

“And let us have more surface and less height. Stairs are exhausting,” he added as an afterthought.

She laughed at that. “You lazy ass.”

“Hey, if I’m going to live there for the rest of my life, I might as well-“

He was cut off by Naruto’s lips pressing against his and her tongue slipping into the hot cavern of his mouth. All thoughts vanished just like always when they did that, his head condemningly, or blissfully blank.

Suddenly, the sharp sound of knocking against his door rang through the room. Startled, Naruto flailed, and in attempt to hastily distance herself, fell over the armrest right on the wooden floor, her feet still in the air and leaning against the sofa. On her way down she somehow managed to hit the shelf standing just next to it, which caused some books to fall down, too.

He started to laugh and could clearly spot the blonde girl rolling her eyes while grinning herself.

Then the door to his room opened to reveal his mother standing there with a curious expression on her face. “What happened here?”

Naruto huffed but the smile didn’t leave her face. “Just me being a klutz.”

Yoshino rolled her eyes and moved into the room to help Naruto get up. “You’d think the boy would be gentleman and help his fiancé up, but clearly my countless attempts to get some manners into his head have failed.”

Shikamaru was still grinning although his laughter had stopped. He’d have to admit, although accidently, Naruto’s moves at least hid what they’d been doing earlier. Well, he and Naruto weren’t exactly _hiding_ what was going on between them, but he was simply uncomfortable to do any of those things he’d been doing with her in front of others, _especially_ his parents.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine,” the girl remarked light-heartedly while his mother put an arm around the blonde’s smaller frame in an almost protective manner.

“Anyway Shikamaru; Choji, Kiba and Shino are waiting outside. They’re asking for you.”

“What for?”

“They’re inviting you to go out.”

Shikamaru contemplated it while standing up. It had been some time since he'd met up with any of them, even if you take their missions in account.

“You want to come, too, Naruto?”

She shook her head. “I’m dog-tired. You boys go and have fun.”

.

They ended up in a bar, thankfully empty for a Friday. Shikamaru suspected the chunin-exams having a huge influence on that fact. Very easily, they got a table and the first thing Kiba did was order some sake.

Shikamaru had been listening to his friends’ talks only superficially, letting the sounds wash over him.

“What about you, Shikamaru?” Choji, who sat right next to him, asked.

“Hm?”

Kiba rolled his eyes. “We’re meeting up for lunch with the others tomorrow. You coming?”

Just in that moment, the waitress arrived with the bottle of sake and a glass for each of them. Shikamaru reached for the container and poured the beverage into his glass. Sipping some of it down, he enjoyed the burn in the back of his throat.

“Can’t. Architects are coming tomorrow.”

The others poured themselves some sake as well while they turned questioning looks towards him.

“Architects?” Shino asked only to be followed by Choji’s “Already?”

Shikamaru nodded and grabbed into the inner pocket of his vest to pull a cigarette out. He wasn’t a regular smoker, but at times like this, with a lazy, relaxing atmosphere cloaking him while the pleasant buzz of alcohol rushed through his veins, he occasionally craved a smoke. He lit it up and took a drag.

“We’re having a house built,” Shikamaru explained to the boys sitting in front of him. He had told Choji already.

“For whom?” Kiba asked curiously.

Another smoky inhale. “Me and Naruto.”

The boy’s eyes widened. Even Shino looked surprised, although not much of his expression was detectable. “What? Man, you have a shit ton of space at your parents’ place. Why’d you do that?”

The Nara shrugged. “We were going to move out some time anyway. Can’t live there all our lives. We might as well do it now.”

Kiba laughed. “You’re moving out! How cool’s that? I’d love to have my own place!”

Choji shrugged. “I like living with my parents.”

The Inuzuka rolled his eyes. “Only Shikamaru would have the luck to get all that and a gorgeous girl without having to try, at all.”

The Nara heir squinted his eyes suspiciously. “Do you have eyes on my fiancé?”

The other boy spluttered. “What? No!”

Shikamaru reached for his sake when Shino chose to speak up. “Why does it concern you? Where do you and Naruto even stand in your relationship?”

It was an incredibly vast question. The Nara tried to stall by deeply inhaling from his cigarette again, while his other hand unconsciously crept to the pendant around his neck. He almost snorted. If he only knew where they stood.

He turned his head against the window he was seated against. From here you had a good view oof the Hokage monument, a rock wall he had seen countless times in his life. A sharp pain rang through his head and echoed against his skull. He groaned. Not again. Forcefully he tore his eyes off the wall to face his friends.

“None of your guys’ business.”

Choji grinned at that and effortlessly changed the topic.

.

By the time they departed from the bar his headache had compounded. Granted, it was probably due to the alcohol, but that didn’t matter. He turned his back to the monument as he neared his home.

He sincerely hoped that no one was waiting up for him. It wasn’t terribly late, just after midnight, so it was a possibility. He didn’t want to get chewed out by his mother over the smell of sake clinging to him.

He didn’t even have that much to drink, really. Just enough to cause a pleasant buzz, but he was far from drunk. The last thing he wanted to deal with tomorrow was a hangover. He had enough headaches, already.

Silently, he approached the front door while searching in his pockets for the keys. When he stepped into the house, he noticed that it was blissfully empty. Everyone was sleeping.

He decided to have a quick shower before going to bed and went into his room to grab a change of clothes. When he opened the door to his bedroom, he noticed some books lying on the floor. He grinned slightly. Those were the ones that Naruto had accidently caused to fall down from the shelf.

Lazily, he strode towards them to put them back in their place. One particular book was opened wide on its front so the cover was distinguishable. It was an old history book from his Academy days. Shikamaru had placed it in the shelf the first day he got it, and never bothered to open it since. Although his mother bothered him endlessly to relocate the old junk, he had always been too lazy to do so.

Grabbing the book he turned it in his hands, not really intending to look at the opened pages, but doing so from the corner of his eyes.

And when he did so, he froze.

He didn’t know how long he stood motionless, book still in hand, eyes wide open staring at the pages, but it couldn’t have been long till the wheels started turning in his head.

On the first, superficial glance, he had simply wondered why Naruto’s picture was in his old history book. After a split second though, he realized it wasn’t Naruto at all. It was the Yondaime Hokage.

What the hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pleeease, tell me what you liked/disliked!


	18. 18

**.**

The shock had hit Shikamaru so hard that he had to sit on the floor, his head in his hands, his eyes wide in disbelief. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the young man’s picture.

It was the same one that hung in Tsunade’s office, right next to the picture of all the other Hokages. The look on the Yondaime’s face was somber, calm, confident and calculating. With a start he realized that this was exactly how Naruto had looked when he had come to pick her up earlier that day. It had been in her battle that her lips hadn't been curled in her usual smile, and it had been then when she had resembled the Fourth Hokage the most.

Shikamaru focused on the picture again. It could be a coincidence, of course, but what were the chances? The Nara had never seen similar physical traits on anyone else despite the fact that he had seen a lot as a ninja. But however seldom these traits were, Naruto and the Yondaime shared them.

There had to be a connection.

Of course, the most logical explanation would be relation. According to how much they resembled each other, closely related even. Maybe siblings or even father and daughter then?

Shikamaru wracked his head and tried to remember whether the topic of the Yondaime’s family had come up sometime in his education but he couldn’t find an answer. Damn it.

He had always thought that it was strange how little information was public about that man but he had always chalked it up to the fact that he hadn’t held the position of the Hokage for a long time. Everyone in, as well as outside of Konaha, told stories about the Yellow Flash, the warrior, but no one knew anything about Minato Namikaze, the man himself.

Shikamaru didn’t even know whether the guy had a family.

The Nara heir gritted his teeth and stood up, all thoughts of shower and sleep long forgotten. He wouldn’t be able to function until he could figure out how this piece fitted into the puzzle anyway.

He ran his fingers through his hair and felt the loose knot that held the strands together dissolve. His scalp relaxed and his hair fell in front of his face. He took a deep breath. _Calm down._

He was Shikamaru Nara and _this_ , whatever this was, was like every other problem when it came down to it. Solving problems was his forte and he wouldn’t start to get worked up over it now.

Inhale, exhale, slowly.

The wheels in his head started turning again.

Naruto Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze were connected to each other. If he knew the specifics of that connection, he w _ould_ come closer to solving the mystery around Naruto and the arrangement of their marriage. He had found out what he could about Naruto in the library that day already. The next logical step was clear.

Stealthily and completely silent, he moved towards the door of his bedroom, opened it and started walking through the long floors with one specific place in mind. The Nara library didn’t contain anything about Naruto Uzumaki, he made sure of that the day he had learned her name. Yondaime, on the other hand was a different story.

He exited the big house soundlessly and let the cold weather engulf him and cool his mind down. Shikamaru smiled. The delicious feeling of coming close to solving a problem penetrated his senses. He was excited.

Quickly, he bobbed and weaved in between the houses on the estate with one specific building on his mind: The Nara library.

Opening the wooden door, he stepped into the old room. The air wasn’t stuffy like he had expected it to be when had first stepped into this building all those years ago. It was warm inside, like it always was when the weather outside was cold. It helped keeping the air moisture low, his father had explained once. The humidity was damaging for the old paper that was stored in here.

The library wasn’t a usual one. There weren’t books stacked in here, but rather files. Files about places, jutsus, people and many more topics. This place was a source of information, growing with every generation of Nara.

That is why this place wasn’t open to the public or even Konoha shinobi. There were seals that secured the building that only allowed a Nara to enter this place. So far, no one had managed to break them and none of the Naras that could enter the library had abused the information. There was a reason why his family was held in such high regards.

Swiftly, he walked through the shelves and started searching for the Yondaime’s file. All documents were ordered according to a complicated system that had taken Shikamaru weeks to figure out when he was still a child. His father hadn’t helped him then. The man had said that if you weren’t smart enough to figure out the pattern, you shouldn’t be trusted with so much information, anyway.

Shikamaru hadn’t minded. He had liked the puzzle that had kept him occupied for a relatively long time. However, after he had understood it, he hadn’t bothered to return to this place again. The purpose of solving the pattern had been the satisfaction and entertainment of dissecting a problem, the data had never been his concern.

After some minutes of searching, he finally found what he was looking for: Minato Namikaze’s file. Shikamaru arched his brow. It was weird to think of him as anything other than the Yondaime.

He brushed his fingers across the front page of the folder. The material was relatively new compared to the really old junk stored in here. He opened it.

The picture he was faced with wasn’t the one from his history book or the one that was hanging in the Hokage Office. The man looked a little younger in this photo, a little less grim and a lot more like Naruto.

Taking a breath Shikamaru started reading through the file. Birth date, date of death, blood type, gender, age, ninja registration number, approximated height and weight all neatly noted down.

His eyes stopped moving when the file reported his element affinity. Although the man had acquired multiple ones as time had passed by, the one he had most responded to was Wind. The one element that Naruto also had an affinity towards. The fact that these affinities were often influenced by genetic factors made adrenaline rush through his veins.

Shikamaru scanned through it and searched for the more personal information. Father died before his birth and mother died when he was a teenager. They seemed to have been regular folk and the Yondaime grew up in a civilian environment. With six years however, he joined the Ninja Academy and graduated with ten years at the top of his class.

As a genin he was in the team of – Shikamaru stilled – Jiraiya the Sannin, the guy who later took him in as an apprentice. The same guy who took Naruto in as an apprentice. Now if that wasn’t a nice coincidence.

The Sannin didn’t just take anyone in as their student. Tsunade, for instance had only instructed three women herself. Shikamaru had never met Jiraiya, didn’t know whether he was as deadbeat as Tsunade had once been, or as backstabbing and crazy as Orochimaru still was. However, he hadn’t heard of anyone being his student apart from Naruto and the Yondaime, so the guy couldn’t be too keen on spreading knowledge either.

All of that only supported his theory that his fiancé and the Hokage were related. Even if Naruto hadn’t shown much promise as a ninja, Jiraiya might have taken her in based on feelings of responsibility and attachment.

Shikamaru read on. Lists of praises about his skills went on for a few pages. Words like ‘highly-skilled’, ‘dangerous’ and ‘prodigy’ being frequently mentioned. In Jiraiya’s tutelage he also acquired a completely new skill: Fuinjutsu

The Nara stilled. If the Yondaime wasn’t famed for his speed, he was for his sealing. He and Naruto bared too many physical similarities, already. Maybe that was the reason Tsunade didn’t want her to present her fuinjutsu skills at the final battles. People Shikamaru’s age wouldn’t see the instant connection, but those who had lived in the period of the Yondaime and saw him fight would be able to spot it immediately.

The Yellow Flash had had a notorious reputation that people still told stories about. If the information of him having relatives spread it could develop and pose a threat.

Shikamaru carried on reading. The next step in the man’s career was being assigned his own genin team, when he had barely reached his twenties. Shikamaru’s eyes formed slits when he read the names of the man’s first team. Not much of them were mentioned besides that. But Shikamaru really didn’t need much more.

Kakashi Hatake.

The Nara grinned silently. He had known from the moment Kakashi had been assigned as Naruto’s instructor that something had been fishy. Tsunade had mentioned that she had been trying to persuade him specifically for the job.

At first Shikamaru had believed that it was because Kakashi knew his way around seals and could support Naruto in her skills. But the more he watched Naruto, the more he found out that her sealing skills surpassed his. Tsunade should have known that.

Now that he compared Naruto’s and Kakashi’s fighting styles, it wasn’t just weird, it didn’t make any sense to pair them up. Kakashi simply fought and taught in a different way than Naruto did. Maybe, Tsunade could have wanted the two to complement each other, but it was strange all the same.

All these facts added up and Shikamaru was sure Naruto and the Yondaime were related, and since the man’s parents had died when he was still young, they couldn’t be siblings. That almost completely convinced him that they were father and daughter.

He picked the file up from where had laid it on the floor and started rereading it more times than he cared to count. Slowly an idea formed in his head. If the Yondaime was Naruto’s father, where was he at the time of her birth? Did the date of his death and the one his supposed daughter’s birth add up? Of course, he knew that the man had been killed sixteen years ago on the tenth of October, the day the Kyuubi attacked the village.

Furthermore, he remembered his conversation with his father all those years ago when he had questioned the man about his fiancé the first time. The clan head had mentioned that while searching for someone to arrange Naruto’s marriage with, the council was looking for someone around her age.

Shikamaru was sixteen years old. If Naruto was only one year younger, the theory of Minato Namikaze having been the one to father her would crumble in itself.

He groaned. Why hadn’t he ever thought of asking for her birthday?

Hastily, he started putting the file back to its place and moved towards the exit of the building. Outside he let himself be engulfed by the cool and fresh night air. After he arrived at his family’s house again, he sat on the porch and leaned his back on the wooden wall. Watching the stars, he sighed and ran his fingers through his loose hair.

Exhaustedly, he searched through his pants pockets and finally found a cigarette to light up and inhale from deeply. God, he was tired. His unoccupied hand reached up to fist the green gem around his neck.

Was the Yondaime Naruto’s father? Was that Naruto’s secret? It certainly added up.

Her becoming a strong ninja was probable, even if you only took her heritage in account. Of course, the council wanted to keep her. And they had sent her off to Uzu because – he cocked an eyebrow and inhaled from the glowing cigarette again. Why exactly? To assure her a happier childhood by growing up with distant friends of her family?

If that had been the purpose, it must have failed. He remembered how lonely the girl had sounded while talking about her life in Uzu. And since when did the council have any decent motivations, anyway? He knew these people were only doing their job, but they _could_ be quiet ruthless at times for the sake of the greater good. So why did they send Naruto to Uzu?

So some problems still hadn’t dissolved themselves. Besides, he still didn’t know Naruto’s date of birth. Sighing, he flicked the glowing stump between his fingers on the cedar floor as his eyes started drooping. He would close his eyes only shortly, only to rest them a little.

.

He was woken up by the presence of a warm body pressing against his side. When he opened his eyes, he was blinded by the sunlight streaming down from the cloudless sky. He turned to his left and was met with Naruto’s amused stare as she sat next to him.

“Long night?”

He groaned. “You could say that.”

Although her hair was mussed and she only wore her crinkled pants and faded top that she slept in, she looked beautiful all the same. He wondered about his appearance and what she saw when she looked at him.

When she smiled like that, it was easy to miss the resemblance to her supposed father. Maybe it was because he only knew the man as Yondaime, the grim and confident ninja in his history book and never as Minato Namikaze, a human being like everyone of them.

It was almost silent, only the sounds of birds chirping at the early morning, when Naruto reached up to meet his lips with hers. There was no hurry in her movements as her tongue crept into his mouth, just the lazy and sweet motions of her flesh against his. Shikamaru felt the urge to pull her into his lap, the feeling of her warm body against his cold one enticing him. He reached with his hands to grab both of her shoulders, unintentionally causing the straps of her top to slide off. He halted with a start because he realized, Naruto wasn’t wearing a bra. And now that he was actually focusing on her chest – oh, yes, no, her hardened nipples were clearly discernable through the cloth. He could feel the rush of his blood but before he could decide on how to go on, Naruto had already moved away.

She crunched her nose up and grinned. “You smell like sake, smoke and sweat. It’s still early, your mother’s not up yet. You should go clean up before she finds you like this.”

He sighed and nodded. “My father?”

“You know that he’s already off to work around this time.”

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. “Which means that he saw me like this and decided to leave me lying outside on the hard floor.”

“You should be more cautious. You could’ve caught a cold. Are you feeling well?”

He moved his joints to test his body. “My back hurts like a bitch, but I’m alright otherwise.”

She laughed and stood up. His side where she had been leaning against grew cold gradually. “Come. I’ll draw you a hot bath and make some breakfast for us.”

.

The bath had been heavenly and the hot water had helped his tense muscles to loosen up. When he entered the kitchen, Naruto was the only one stirring pans.

“My mother’s not up?”

Naruto turned around, acknowledged his presence and turned back to the stove. “I think she went to bed relatively late last night. She was planning on waiting up for you.”

He walked towards her and pressed against her back. Across her head, he could see that she was preparing something with eggs, an omelet?

“You haven’t tied your hair up”, she remarked.

“Forgot it.”

She turned around to look at him again before going back to work.

“It looks nice.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

He put his chin on her head. It was easy because she was a fair share shorter than him. She must have been using that strawberry shampoo, again.

“Naruto?”

“Hm?”

“How old are you?”

She halted her movements, surprised by the sudden question. “Sixteen. Why?”

“What day exactly were you born?”

He felt her whole body stiffen up as she put the wooden spoon in her hand to the side. “Why are you asking me that?”

Shikamaru felt his own confusion come up in him as she turned around, this time not only her head but her whole body, and fixed him with a glaring stare. “Why do you want to know that?”

He cocked an eyebrow up. “Why are you getting so defensive?”

She crossed her arms _defensively_ and avoided his question. “I’m not getting anything. But why are asking me that, all of sudden?”

He stemmed his hands to his sides. “Why not? It’s not that much of an unusual question.”

Naruto didn’t answer and Shikamaru could see her face closing off, becoming a copy of the picture inside his old history book.

.

Breakfast had been an awkward affair but he didn’t regret their argument that caused the mood. Their little fight had been informative if nothing else.

Sure, he had asked for her birth date without the topic having come up in a natural way, but it hadn’t been an unusual question. Naruto’s reaction had been extremely suspicious. She had something to hide.

Shikamaru just couldn’t quite connect that behaviour to his theory of the Yondaime being her father. She couldn’t have known that he was fishing for her birth date in order to determine whether it could have been possible for the man to have been the one to father her.

That could only mean that she was trying to hide something else.

Shikamaru grinned. He was getting close to whatever puzzles surrounded Naruto and that knowledge was absolutely delicious.

Hesitant knocking disturbed the silence inside his bedroom. It was Naruto who entered. She wore a sheepish look on her face as she closed the door behind her and leaned against it. None of them made a sound and looked at each for some time.

“I’m sorry”, she spurted out, “I didn’t want to get mean or bitchy.”

Still she didn’t offer an explanation which only helped support Shikamaru’s theory. There was something about her birth date that held a key-meaning to all of this. Oh, this was simply too good.

He felt his mood lift even more. Whatever this was, he was getting the upper hand.

He grinned towards her, from where he laid sprayed on his bed. “I’m feeling benevolent today.”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t push it.”

.

Shikamaru swore to himself that if he ever had to plan something like this again, he would see to it himself. Somehow he had thought that all he would be forced to do was being physically present while Naruto would give the instructions.

But the first mistake had been to let his father even invite the architects. The young Nara hadn’t expected four of them to show up. Apparently Akiyama and Shizuka, two men, as well as Tachibana and Nakano, two women, worked for the same company. Still they couldn’t even come to an agreement when it came to the simplest things. Each of them had a different ‘aesthetic’, and soon their discussions filled the once silent room with loud noises.

Meanwhile Shikamaru held himself back and sipped the fruity tea that Naruto had made them. He’d rather have some sake to help ignore this mess. Massaging his back that was still sore from the night spent outside, he watched Naruto.

How she managed to listen to the four of them and still keep the upper hand in the discussion was a mystery to him. At the beginning of their meeting they had tried to convince Shikamaru of their ideas, too, but they had soon changed their strategy when they realized that he couldn’t care less. He had handed the reins to Naruto when it came to this topic. Although this whole arrangement was a drag, he could understand their excitement. After all, it wasn’t every day that someone got the job of designing a future clan head’s house, and it would not only earn them money but also prestige.

The girl was listening to all these ideas, contemplating and making decisions. Every once in a while she turned to Shikamaru to ask what he thought about it. He mostly nodded everything off, and threw in the occasional advice to appease her.

Naruto had established from the start that she wanted a traditional Japanese styled house. He didn’t know where that desire stemmed from but he quickly agreed to it. He loved the wooden structures and the many sliding doors that let some of the nature displayed outside into their home.

As time passed and sketches were made, one major struggle had developed: There was too much space. The area that his father had handed to them was wide and in order to fill it up they would have to have countless unnecessary rooms built. Shikamaru wasn't bothered by it, but Naruto didn't approve.

“It's stupid to have so many empty rooms aligned next to each other,” she mused. “There should be a smarter way to design that.”

“Please do not forget to consider the space that future heirs’ will need, Uzumaki-san,” Tachibana, the older one of the two women mentioned. Naruto’s skin heated visibly up. However, Tachibana was right. As weird as it currently appeared, they would have to plan for future children.

Shikamaru shuddered. Kids.

No, better leave that thought alone.

She stared thoughtfully at the sketch that lay on the low table. "But that is an enormous amount of unused space. It'd suffice for twenty kids! And when I’m saying that, I’m not even considering all those rooms that we probably won't need most of the time neither: The Western style room, the conference room, the office, even a tea room and all of these-" She cut herself, took a deep breath and resumed. "It isn’t needed. We won't be having _that_ many kids."

She turned to face Shikamaru as if she wanted to ask for his confirmation.

He nodded in agreement. He wasn't sure whether Naruto had been serious when she had been talking about twenty kids but he got the idea. No, rather not.

Everyone sighed and wrecked their heads in search for a solution.

"How about an inner garden?" Shikamaru didn't know how he had come up with that idea, but suddenly, it was there. "Didn't you want a garden outside, as well, Naruto?" She nodded, her eyes wide. "Then why not built one inside, as well? The living space could circle around the garden, which would lie in the centre of it all. Living area and garden would be separated through sliding doors. If we built it the traditional way, the building will be slightly elevated, anyway, so the garden and the actual house wouldn't be at the same level."

Naruto stared at him for some time after that before turning to the architects. "That's how we're going to do it."

.

Shikamaru sighed in relief when he saw the architects off. God, that had been exhausting and something he didn’t ever want to do again. Unfortunately, they and other people would soon be visiting him and Naruto again to clear some other buisness up. After all, they had only planned a rough concept. Soon a full-fledged constructional drawing would be made and rechecked. Problems would only pile up after that.

But that was then and now he was ready to resume his main project.

When Naruto made a move to return from the front gates in the direction of the house he called her back. She looked at him with a questioning glance.

“You hungry?”

She grinned sheepishly. “Actually, I’m starving.”

“When I met up with the boys yesterday night, they told me they’d meet up with the others for lunch today. I originally thought we wouldn’t be able to make it but it’s still early.”

Nauto’s face lightened up considerably. “That’s a great idea! I haven’t seen a lot of them for some time now. Let me just get dressed-“

He grabbed her by her hand. “You look great, come on.”

The blonde raised her eyebrows. “You sure? I’d be-“

“You always look good.” He wasn’t even embarrassed to say it. Who was he trying to fool? Even if he didn’t feel the way he did for Naruto, he’d be blind by not admitting that she was beautiful.

She grinned and flashed her pearly white teeth. “You’ve gotten awfully confident.”

He laughed. She was right, he had gotten quite comfortable with her. “I’m just stating the truth. Besides, your butt looks good in these pants. Maybe you should wear them more often.”

Now it was Naruto who was laughing and turning her body purposefully to stop him from looking at her back. “Come on, we better get going.”

He slung his right arm around her shoulders and led the way.

“Where are we meeting up?”

“Don’t know. There aren’t that many choices though. Even if we hadn’t come, they would have been a pretty big number of people, so they must be at one of the bigger places. We’ll just look through the windows and see where they are.”

They entered the main street and the number of civilians they met increased. Shikamaru noticed many of them staring. With a start he realized that it was the first time he and Naruto were so close to each other in public.

“Hey Shikamaru?”

“Hm?”

“Will Hinata and Ino be there, too?” Her face was attentive in excitement.

“They should be. I’m not completely sure, though. Sakura should be there too, I guess.”

Naruto raised her brows in surprise. “She’s from your year too? I knew that your and Hinata’s team graduated at the same time but I didn’t know that of Sakura.”

Shikamaru’s fingers tangled into her hair from where it lay against her shoulders. “No, we were in the same class when we went to the Academy and graduated as Genins at the same time. Doesn’t she look our age?”

“No, she does, it’s just—" She drew her eyebrows together, “you and Hinata always hang around with your old team and Sakura, well, she doesn’t. Or I just haven’t met them? I don’t know, she’s just different from the rest of you.” She raised her head to question him with her curious eyes.

He nodded. “No, you’re right.” He hesitated and took a deep breath. “Some stuff happened along the way. Just, don’t mention what I’m about to tell you to anyone, okay?”

She grinned. “Now I’m curious.”

“Naruto.” His voice held a warning tint to it.

“No word to anyone. Got it.”

He sighed. “When we were twelve, we graduated from the Academy and were put into teams. From all those teams only three actually became Genins. Team ten, Ino, Choji and me. Team eight, Hinata, Kiba and Shino. The last one was team seven.”

Naruto seemed captivated by his story. She had probably been wondering about Sakura and her connection with the rest of them for some time. “Was that the team Sakura belonged to?”

He nodded and realized that for once, he was the one with more information on his hands. “It’s common that the ones from the top of the class and the one from the bottom get teamed up. Sakura was the second best in our year. The other member was a girl from a civilian family. To be honest I didn’t know much about her apart from the fact that she was the only one who had worse grades than I did.”

Naruto’s eyes grew wide. “You were at the bottom of your class?”

The corners of his lips lifted slightly. “What can I say? I was a lazy kid.”

She grinned. “You still are.”

He shrugged. “Except now I have to do enough to not die on a mission. Anyway, that one girl, she _did_ die.”

The girl halted at the middle of the road. Her eyes were still wide, but not in excitement this time. “How can you talk so commonly about that?”

Shikamaru looked her straight in the eyes and regretted that the easy atmosphere around them had dissipated. “It’s never easy to lose someone. But if you don’t want to go insane while doing this job, it is a fact that you have to accept. Some losses are easier to accept than others. I’m just glad that I didn’t know her any better or else I wouldn’t be able to speak so easily about it.”

He nudged her to start walking again, his arm still across her shoulders.

“Well, Sakura wouldn’t have been able to accept it as easily, I imagine. I don’t think her and that girl, Ai was her name, were close, but it is always hard to lose a comrade. Kakashi, their team leader, took it even harder, although he wouldn’t show it openly.”

Naruto’s face fell even further. Shikamaru knew that she had taken the man to her heart. “When did it happen?”

“At the Chunin exams. I was still twelve, so none of us were extremely competent or anything. I had a close call myself.” He remembered being cornered by Oto-nins and Asuma-sensei saving him the last minute. Naruto looked like she wanted to inquire about that some more but he cut her off. “A story for another time.” She nodded in acceptance.

“Anyway, it were those Chunin-exams when Orochimaru and Suna attacked us. That's why I just can't trust Sabaku no Gaara, no matter how much you tell me what a good guy he is. But I guess that is a discussion for another time.” The girl pursed her lips as if she barely held herself back from remarking.

“Well, Ai wasn’t the only member that team seven would lose. Shortly after what happened at the Chunin exams, the third team member, Sasuke Uchiha betrayed Konoha by leaving for Orochimaru who had promised him more power.”

“So that Sasuke was one of the top of your class? Wasn’t he powerful enough, already?”

Shikamaru scoffed. “I bet he _thought_ he was. But it was never enough for him. That’s why he left and that’s the reason why Sakura and Kakashi are now the only members of team seven.”

He watched Naruto bite and nibble her lips. “Poor Sakura and Kakashi-sensei. That’s terrible.”

The terse atmosphere was interrupted by the sound of loud shouting.

“Shikamaru! Naruto!”

Surprised, they both looked up to discern who had called their names. Lost in their conversation, they hadn’t noticed that they’d already arrived at the restaurant district where his friends had sat outside around a big table of a place that was famous for its seafood. Kiba was already standing up and carrying two chairs over to their large table.

“Hey, wasn’t house planning on your schedule today?” Choji asked as they all greeted each other. Shikamaru and Naruto sat between Kiba and Sakura.

“It was,” the blonde answered, “but we finished that already.”

No one seemed surprised about the news which meant that they had been talking about this. Shikamaru wondered what exactly they told themselves about him and his fiancé when they weren’t present.

“You have to tell me _everything_!” Ino exclaimed, an excited gleam in her eyes. “As soon as I heard about this I asked my parents to have them build me a house as well, but they refused. Can you believe that?”

“I can believe that very well actually”, Shikamaru deadpanned.

“Oh shut up, I wasn’t talking to you anyway!” the girl bristled.

Everyone started laughing and Naruto started telling everyone about their plans for the house excitedly. When he focused on her he could distinguish that she wasn’t interacting with Hinata as much as she normally would. Both girls had grown to be inseparable but today, the blonde’s attention lay on Sakura. Like he planned it.

To be honest, the plan had been standing on weak knees and he hadn’t been sure whether it would work, but he had figured that he had nothing to lose.

Naruto was a curious person by nature and Shikamaru had shamelessly used that trait of hers by bringing up that Sakura would attend lunch. If someone hadn’t told her the story about team seven, already, she would inquire with him about it. Now that she pitied Sakura enough to focus solely on her, the way to someone else was free.

They had all ordered and ate when Hinata finally stood up to go to the restroom. While everyone was lost in conversations, he stood up after two minutes as well, without anyone paying attention to him.

Granted, there was probably a much easier way to do this, without having to subtly manipulate Naruto, but he saw a chance and he grasped it.

He didn’t have to wait long until Hinata exited the ladies’ room. She halted in her steps and looked at him, eyes big with the surprise she felt. “Shikamaru?”

“Hinata.” He smiled softly and wished he knew a little more about her. He had analyzed her like he analyzed everyone, but he never went through the effort of actually getting to know her. She was a comrade, one you could trust and rely on, not really a friend of his though. “I wanted to ask you something.”

“Yes?” Her face mirrored the confusion she felt, and however cruel Neji could be at times, the guy was right when he said that Hinata still had a lot to learn. She could be read like an open book.

Carefully he mimicked embarrassment and sheepishness. “I just wanted to ask… Do you know Naruto’s birthday?”

Naruto had grown suspicious because he had asked her this question out of the blue. He had done so since he hadn’t thought that she had something to hide. However Hinata was his fiancé’s best friend in Konoha. Surely that topic had come up sometime during their talks.

Hinata cocked an eyebrow. “Why don’t you ask her yourself?”

Without missing a beat, he intentionally started running his fingers through his hair and grasping the gem around his neck in false nervousness. “I don’t know, it’s just—" He broke off, acted as if he needed time to compose himself, “We've known each other for _months_ and we’re kind of, you know, there's been something between us for some time now.” He consciously avoided her stare in mock uneasiness.

Apparently, she believed his charade, although he had never really doubted his skills in the first place. She blushed a little and Shikamaru felt a little bad about manipulating her, honestly.

“All this time, I haven’t bothered to ask her about that basic piece of information. How would it look if I did ask _now_? She’d think I’m inattentive or something similarly bad.” He acted as if he forced himself to look in the Hyuuga’s eyes. “Things have been well between us for some time and I don’t want to ruin it.” The girl nodded understandingly. “And it would be even worse if I just missed her birthday,” he finished.

“Oh Shikamaru, I understand you.” Although he didn’t know her that well, she had reacted just the way he thought she would. Hinata really was too naïve for her own good. After all of that was over, he would give her some subtle advice to take better care of herself. She smiled. “She was born on October 10th.”

He felt the air in his lungs stop circulating. “October 10th? Thanks, Hinata.” He forced a smile on his face. “Just don’t tell Naruto that I asked you, okay? I wouldn’t want her to know that I didn’t even know—"

“Yes, I got you.” She turned to leave with a soft smile on her face.

Shikamaru heaved a sigh and leaned himself against the wall and ran his fingers through his hair in real frustration this time.

Of all dates, it had to be the tenth of October. The day the Kyuubi attacked, the Yondaime died and Naruto was born. Normally, he would chalk it up to be a coincidence. Women could enter early labour in moments of high stress and the Kyuubi attacking the village had been more than just stressful.

But it had been the fact that Naruto acted so defensively when he had asked her about her birth date, that made him suspect that there was more behind that.

It had been her reaction and her inability to keep her cool that had betrayed her in the end. But he was Shikamaru Nara and his thoughtful planning had benefitted him once again. He could feel himself being only a few draws away from the check mate.

Naruto was an unusual Shogi player and never one to underestimate, but she made mistakes like all of them. Well, except Shikamaru maybe. He rarely lost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo... What'd you think?


	19. 19

**.**

It was after 4pm when everyone decided to get going. The sky was still alight, but not for much longer. Winter had long since arrived, although it seemed as if snow wouldn’t fall this year.

Kiba and Shino had walked off in a completely different direction because their homes were on the other side of the village. The rest of them started walking down the main street, each of them lost in comfortable conversation. Another five minutes later, Sakura separated herself from the group. She hugged Naruto tightly as she said her goodbyes.

The rest of the girls were gathered in a group, chatting animatedly and laughing loudly, as Choji and Shikamaru walked a few feet behind them. The good thing about being around Choji was that the boy never made matters unnecessarily complicated. It was always easy to be around him and that was one of many reasons why he was Shikamaru’s best friend.

However, after some more time, he and Ino parted ways from the rest of the group too. At the end, only Shikamaru, Naruto and Hinata were left, talking in a comfortable atmosphere. He knew that they’d soon arrive at the Hyuuga estate, but they still had quite a ways to go until they eventually arrive at the Nara estate, since their home was being built near the forest at the edge of the village.

It was only when Hinata departed that Shikamaru noticed Naruto’s stiff posture.

“Nervous about tomorrow?” It would be the day of the final battles, and no matter how skilled the blonde was, she was always excited about a fight. She shrugged.

“What does _that_ mean?” he questioned bemusedly.

She smiled, but her face was tense.

Not five minutes ago, he had thought of lighting up a cigarette to further enjoy the relaxed atmosphere, but those musings had vanished. Something was up with his fiancé. Shikamaru needed to concentrate when it came to her and he couldn’t focus when something was between his lips.

“Frankly, I wasn’t even thinking about that. Were you nervous before your final battle at the Chunin exams?”

He contemplated her question shortly. “Not really, no.” After all, he knew that his opponent would be Temari. He had been well aware that the girl was strong, but the only one to be seriously afraid of had been Gaara. The boy hadn’t been just strong, but also mentally unstable. Shikamaru could not foresee whether you could survive a fight against him without any permanent damage left behind. The worst that could happen with Temari, was losing.

Naruto’s voice held an unusual tone when she spoke up. “That doesn’t surprise me, at all. After all, you always have a plan for everything. There's not much for you to be anxious about.” Oddly enough, it didn’t sound like praise.

He halted in his steps. “What are you implying?” It wasn’t like her to hint at what she meant to communicate, she was usually more direct.

She stood still but if he looked her in the eyes, she didn’t seem all that stiff, not anymore. Rather angry. He wanted to sigh but he refrained. “Have I done something to upset you? If so, just say it, so we can get it out of the way.”

She cocked an eyebrow, crossed her arms and jutted her hip out. Shikamaru looked at her and was surprised. This was a new version of Naruto, a facet he hadn’t experienced yet. He’d seen her happy, energetic, sad, insecure, but he’d never seen her angry. No, he corrected himself, one time, there was that one time. When he had come back from Suna and searched for her only to find her in the midst of a fight with Neji. But at that time, he had been too caught up in his own feelings to pay too much attention.

Now, all his focus lay on her and it oddly excited and discouraged him at the same time. He was curious how Naruto would behave when she was angry, yet simultaneously he didn’t want there to be anything negative between them.

It seemed as if the blonde wanted to laugh, but before she could even start, she cut herself off. It was almost as if there were too many emotions boiling inside her and she hadn’t decided on what to feel first.

“You’re a good tactician, aren’t you?” Her voice was low, although there weren’t any people around that far away from the centre of the village. “That’s what everybody’s telling me, especially your friends and comrades.” Her blue eyes were dark, piercing. “But sometimes I get the feeling that they don’t know you, as well as I do.” Her talk was going into a direction he was perplexed by.

“And what would that be? What do you know about me that my friends don’t?”

“That you don’t just bring out your inner tactician when you’re out on the battle field, when it's actually needed. It's in you in everything you do. But it doesn’t surprise me that they’re ignorant, it’s not their fault really. Only Choji, your parents and Asuma see it in you. But you could fool even them. After all you’re just as great an actor.”

Shikamaru’s head started rattling because he had a feeling where this talk was leading towards. He contemplated her, every part of her, and realized that he'd made a mistake.

“You couldn’t resist, could you?” The smile on her face was bitter. “There were many other ways that you could have found out my birthday, but—“ She cut herself off and the bright, foxy grin on her face caused a shiver to run down his spine. He had truly never experienced her like this. “Many other ways that would have been much more secure than just asking my best friend. A little unoriginal, don’t you think?”

So she did found out. Damn. He should have known better than to talk with Hinata. But before he could start frantically cursing himself, Naruto had moved closer. They were standing only inches apart now.

“I was often told that my impulsiveness was my most cursing and benefitting trait. You’re not impulsive Shikamaru. You’re _curious_ , and that trait of yours is the reason for many of your wins and losses.”

“Naruto—“ He stopped. What was there to say? “What is it that you’re blaming me for?”

Her facial features were hard but she didn’t look that angry, not anymore. Still Shikamaru couldn’t help the rising feeling of guilt within him.

“You know, Hinata was unusually giggly when she came back from the restroom. The rest of us noticed it instantly. She’s very transparent, no? That’s why she's so easy to manipulate. I’m almost disappointed in you, Shikamaru.” Bitterness started to seep into her tone again. “With _your_ skills, you wouldn’t have to go for Hinata to get that information. Anyway, we started questioning her right away, especially Ino, you know how she can be. Poor Hinata never deals very well under pressure, does she? She told us how you encountered her in front of the restroom, sheepishly and embarrassedly asked her about my birthday because of whatever fabricated reasons.”

Shikamaru tore his eyes from hers, turned around and distanced himself from her. Frustrated, he groaned and pulled the strands of his hair so hard that it hurt his scalp. Stupid, stupid, stupid. He had made a mistake and such an amateurish one at that. He turned back to her and threw his hands up in the air.

“What do you want me to do? Apologize? Because, damn, I _am_ sorry.”

“No, you’re not.” Her voice was neutral, as if simply stating facts.

“What—“

“You’re sorry you made a mistake in your planning. Not because you selfishly used a comrade to get what you wanted.”

Shikamaru opened his mouth, but he found himself unable to retort.

“I’m not mad because you were snooping Shikamaru, not even because you did it behind my back. Hell, I deserve it, after keeping so many secrets from you, but—“ She breathed in and her eyes were suddenly soft again, the beautiful sky-blue he had grown accustomed to. “You can’t just go and manipulate the people who are supposed to be your friends.”

He froze in surprise. Naruto had managed to catch him off-guard again.

“Wait. This is about what I did with Hinata?”

“What if she finds out, Shikamaru? Once someone lies, it isn’t easy to trust again.”

He stopped all his movements as his brain processed that. Almost frantically, he then closed the distance between them by grabbing both of her shoulders with each of his hands because this was _important._ Naruto needed to hear, understand and never doubt this.

“Whatever I did, I never lied to you. Never _you_.” Painfully slow he neared his face to hers until he could feel her breath on his skin. Hesitatingly, he placed a kiss on her cheek, afraid of her reaction. Then another and another. “I’ll stop,” he whispered, “if you don’t want me to find out. It’s okay, just please—“

He was unable to proceed. Yes, he could still remember the delicious excitement of figuring out the puzzle, the dazzling hum of the blood in his veins when he knew that he was so close to solving the riddle, but now, it felt almost silly. Now that Naruto had just looked at him with those disappointed eyes, it seemed utterly worthless. He’d rather not know her secrets than turning what was between them sour.

“No,” she answered and Shikamaru’s heart sank. He distanced his face from hers in order to be able to look into her eyes properly.

“I promise Naruto, I have never lied to you. I haven’t betrayed you like that. What do you want? I’ll do anything. Just say it and I—“

“No, Shikamaru,” she cut him off, “It’s not that.” She avoided his eyes. “This is partly my fault, too. I should have told you long ago, but I was scared of how you'd react.” He grew confused when he detected the sadness etched into her features. It made him want to say something, anything, to wipe that look off her face, but he didn’t know how.

“My reaction?”

Nervously, she nibbled at her upper lip. “You'll be angry, scared and disgusted. It was selfish of me, but—“ Frozen, Shikamaru watched a single tear roll down her cheek. Shit, what – what did you do in situations like that? “I was scared of that. I care about you way too much and I didn’t want you to feel of me that way.”

Should he touch her, hug her? Was that the right thing to do? Or was it better to keep his distance? He was confused and said the first thing that came to mind.

“Are you stupid? How can you even contemplate the idea that I’d think that way about you?” She chuckled, but it sounded broken. “ _Don’t you see what you do to me?_ ”

Any other time, he’d be embarrassed, uncomfortable to bare his emotions like that, but in this moment all he wanted was Naruto’s face to lighten in that happy gleam again.

The sorrow in her face made her appear much older than she was. “You say that now, but—“ before he could interrupt her, she shook her head resignedly and took a deep breath.

“My birthday is on October 10th. Do you know what it has to do with all of this?”

He collected himself, forced himself to analyze again. “It's the day the Kyuubi attacked and the Yondaime died.”

She nodded. “Did they teach you in these Academies of yours what happened to the Kyuubi?”

Shikamaru cocked an eyebrow. Where was she going with this? “It was defeated. It died.”

She looked in his eyes, her features transmitting something utterly desperate. “Shikamaru, bijuus aren’t beasts, they aren’t even technically alive; they’re just giant concentrations of chakra. Do you know what that means?”

He drew his brows even further together and caused his forehead to wrinkle. To be honest, he hadn’t ever contemplated what exactly the bijuus were. He had just figured that they were some kind of monsters. But Naruto had said that they were only a mass of chakra… How was that even possible?

“Shikamaru,” she repeated his name. Although it normally caused him pleasure to hear her say it, her voice held so much anguish that it pained him, too. “Chakra cannot be killed. _Bijuus_ cannot be killed.”

“What—how—“ It was as if he couldn’t form a proper thought, let alone a sentence. How did all of this even make sense? “But what happens to them, then?”

Her voice was small, almost silent when she spoke. “They can only be sealed.” She kept on avoiding his eyes. “As a rule of thumb, the more you seal, the stronger your seal and your vessel needs to be. And bijuus—“ She forced out a laugh, “a bijuu is helluva lot more chakra in one spot than you could even imagine. You can't possibly seal it into an object. Do you know what the strongest vessels are, Shikamaru?”

He didn’t answer, but he didn’t have to. Naruto continued.

“Humans.”

Suspicion instantly formed in his mind. If Naruto was implying what he thought she was – but no, it couldn’t be, it—

His thoughts were interrupted by Naruto nodding towards an abandoned street. “Come.” He followed her there. The street they had been originally standing on had been deserted already, but this one was a narrow dead end, void of everything

Perplexedly, he watched Naruto lift her shirt up. “Naruto, what—“

Shikamaru stopped himself when he saw a pattern on her flat, tanned stomach. It seemed painted on, although it was clear that the skin was dry and it melted into her body seamlessly. He gulped. His mouth felt dry.

“It’s the seal.” Her voice sounded empty, exhausted. She let her shirt fall back to its place again.

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 19 already! Liked it? Disliked it? I have to know!


	20. 20

**.**

For a while, there was only silence. No one but them stood on the deserted dead end, there weren’t even any animals' sounds that could have penetrated the unnatural silence. Both looked at each other, but no one said anything. Even the sound of their breathing was almost completely silent.

Shikamaru’s mind was almost a picture of that situation. His head was blank, void of any of its usual thoughts, plans and analysis. It wasn’t a good empty, either. The kind that took a hold of him when he was with Naruto; when she looked so beautiful that it took his breath away, when she surprised him in a way that only she could.

But this particular revelation was of another kind. _Surprise_ didn’t cut it when he tried to figure out what he was feeling.

Naruto was the one to react. Now, too, she was the faster one.

“I knew it, I knew it,” she murmured. Her voice was shaky. “I knew I shouldn’t have told you. I knew that you would react this way.” By now, she seemed to be talking more to herself than to him. Shikamaru wondered why he could only watch her, almost detached from the whole situation, as if all of this was happening to someone else. But he was afraid to start analyzing this situation. This was such a huge mess.

A sound broke through his musing. It was a sob. Oh God, she was crying. It wasn’t even as hesitant as before, no, it was full-fledged sobbing.

Shikamaru hated that sound, absolutely loathed it. It got him worked up, frantically searching for any kind of solution that’d get him over the current status quo. But the more he got upset, the less efficiently he could process his thoughts and the more upset he got.

“Stop,” he told her, which in retrospect, wasn’t the best thing to say. But it was the only thing he could think of in that moment.

Naruto didn’t stop. She only leaned against the wall and palmed her face with her hands as if wanting to shield off any stares.

Not knowing what to do, he leaned against the opposite wall, slowly sinking down and sitting on the dirty ground. Frustrated, he pulled the strands of his hair so hard it hurt his scalp.

“Stop. Stop it.” He groaned. “Naruto, be still, I can't think.”

She ceased her crying abruptly and looked in his eyes. “What is there to think about?” Her eyes were bloodshot red, contrasting starkly against the sky-blue of her iris. She pulled her face into a grimace. “I’m sorry, but you’re stuck with me.” Her voice was half-sarcastic, half mournful.

“We’re stuck with each other, so just calm down for a moment and let me think for God’s sake.” His tone was hard, but he was exhausted and worked up all at the same time.

“No, no I know what you’re doing.” She wore the expression of someone who had found out about some conspiracy. “If you have to say something, then say it. Say that I disgust you!” Her voice was getting gradually louder with every word that she spoke.

He scrunched his eyebrows together. How did this escalate so quickly? Just a little time ago, Naruto had been calm. She wasn’t one to keep her cool usually, not like Shikamaru anyway, but she had never lost it quite like this before. “Stop yelling. People are going to think someone is being attacked or something.”

She got really angry when she heard that. “Oh, they can come! They’re probably going to find out what I am, anyway. And when they finally know, they’ll think twice before coming to my help the next time I’m screaming.”

“Naruto,” he tried to quieten her while struggling to keep his own composure.

“No, Shikamaru! Come on, tell me! Tell me what you truly think of me! Be _man_ enough to spit it out already!”

She talked and talked and she just wouldn’t quit. Without thinking twice about it, Shikamaru decided to shut her up by rising, pushing her against the wall and starting to kiss her. It wasn’t a gentle kiss, by no means as innocent and chaste as they sometimes tended to be when they did that sort of thing.

There was teeth involved, pushing and pulling, hair tugging. Shikamaru wasn’t afraid to hurt her, because, _damn it_ , Naruto was not some fragile little porcelain doll like he had first believed her to be. She wasn’t just a kind and patient ray of sunshine she had appeared to be. She was so much more. If you attacked her she wouldn’t just _take_ it, she would not simply defend herself, no, she would get offensive herself. He didn’t know at what point in her life it had happened, but Naruto had learnt how to face hardships. Or maybe she had been born with that feistiness.

As he had her lower lip caged between his incisors, a brief thought crossed his mind. It was hazy, because there really wasn’t that much room left for pondering anything between how they were close to eating each other’s faces off. Shikamaru hadn’t noticed at what point the girl had started kissing him back, but they were both teetering on the edge of affection and fight.

He asked himself whether _this_ , all of what they were going though right now, wasn’t actually the exact thing he had been trying to avoid. He hadn’t wanted all the drama, this troublesome and tiring struggle of emotions and hardships. But why the hell was it so addicting then? As much as it annoyed him, he simply couldn’t just lean back and let it go.

“I’ll save my manliness for more than just insignificant remarks,” he managed to grumble between the kiss. He pulled back suddenly, his hands pressing the blonde firmly against the wall, keeping her from touching his lips in order to properly look into her eyes. There was anger, desperation and hunger in them.

“Do you think I’m scared of you?” His voice was hard and he wasn’t exactly sure what he was even trying to prove. If Naruto hadn’t worked him up so much, he might have thought about all of this properly before jumping in head first.

“If I let my control sway for one moment, if I was weak for only a second and allowed the beast inside me to free itself from its cage, you would be ripped into shreds faster than you could attempt to run away.” There was a vicious expression on her face. She was trying to provoke him.

“See, that’s the problem with you, Naruto,” he whispered, drawing nearer to her ear and nibbling the lobe, keeping her held firmly still. “You think I would run away.” He could feel her muscles stiffen in an instant against his body. He moved his lips from her ear to her throat, drawing a quiet moan from his fiancé.

He chuckled. “As if it would matter. As if you haven’t taken me apart already.”

His throat was dry, his voice only husky. “Believe me, I’ve been trying to run away from you since you sent me this necklace that I’m wearing around my neck. This string feels like a collar, because no matter how hard I try, I can’t ever truly establish some distance.”

He pulled back to let look her in the eyes again. She seemed confused, the fight that was brimming in her body only a few minutes ago almost lost, as she watched him trying to make sense out of what he was saying.

“And I wish you had just shut up when I told you to and let me think properly. That way I would have come to this conclusion logically and could have said all of this in a proper way. But fuck it- I tried _, I always try with you_ , so it's your own goddamned fault, when it doesn’t come off romantic, when I say that I love you.”

Her eyes were wide open in an almost comical way. “Shikamaru…” Her voice was almost completely silent, only a croak out of her throat. Shikamaru thought that he should have been shocked about this revelation himself, but he only felt satisfaction.

“All of this makes so much more fucking sense now.” He murmured to himself.

“What?” She asked confusedly, watching him as if he was crazy.

“Why I sometimes wish I had never met you while looking forward for the next time I’m going to see you. It’s illogical, it doesn’t make any sense. But if this is love, and if I’m going to believe what is told about it, it is supposed to make no sense. Isn’t that the gist of it? Either that or I completely lost it.”

“I think you _have_ actually lost it.” Naruto faced his stare unbelievingly. “Did you listen to what I said? I just told you that the Kyuubi, the monster that attacked your village sixteen years ago, is living _in_ me.”

Shikamaru grinned. It felt liberating. “And that’s the crazy thing. I get what you said, and I know I should be afraid because I really have no idea how strong that seal on your stomach is, or how well you can control the fox, but-“ he took a deep breath, testing his theory again, “I somehow can’t bring myself to care.”

“What the hell do you mean, you don’t care, you dirty liar?” Suddenly her voice seemed to have gained volume again.

He leaned back into the side of her neck, inhaling deeply. She’d used that strawberry scented shampoo again. “What do you want me to do?”

“What I want you to do and what you are supposed to be doing are two different things.”

“What I want to do and what I am supposed to do are two different things, too.”

He could feel her voice echo against his lips that were pressed against her neck as she spoke. “What do you want then?”

“What do _you_ want?”

For a moment he thought she would stay stubborn and demand his answer first. Instead, she gave in and replied, her voice low and shaky.

“I want you to stay with me.”

Slowly he snaked his hands away from her arms, to her back, till the small of her back.

“Good. Because I want to stay with you.”

“But-“

“What is it? We both want the same thing. So where’s the problem?”

Before she could answer, he slipped his fingers underneath her shirt, touching her cool skin. She must be cold from being pressed against the freezing wall in the sinking sun.

“Your hand it’s-“

“Do you want me to stop?” He’d stop for her anytime, no question, without hesitation.

But she inhaled, paused as if contemplating, and answered, “No.”

So he resumed, brushed his hands higher, till he reached the clasps holding her bra together. He toyed with them, making his fingers familiar with them for when he would actually unclasp them. Today, in the deserted, dirty alley he wouldn’t go there, although he could feel desire coiling in his loins.

“You’re cold,” he remarked, and pulled away. Silently, he unzipped his vest, threw it around Naruto’s slight shoulders and waited till she slipped her arms though and zipped it back up. Shikamaru wasn’t very broad, but since his fiancé was very small, the vest still managed to look oversized on her.

“Come on,” he put a hand on her back to push her forward. “Let’s get home.”

.

Their walk back to the Nara estate was quiet, but not tense. By some lucky miracle, his mother wasn’t at home and his father was probably off to work. He wasn’t sure whether he could have been able to deal with them. They settled on the porch, watching the garden, sitting close to each other.

After a while, Shikamaru grabbed into the breast pocket of the vest Naruto was still wearing. She flinched in surprise before he could pull a cigarette out. He lit it up and took a drag.

“You want one?” He knew she didn’t smoke, but sometimes Asuma-sensei offered too, so maybe that was the tactful thing to do.

She pulled her face into a grimace. “No.” She remained silent for a while before speaking up, again. “What happens now?”

“What do you mean?”

“Now that you know of the Kyuubi - it changes something between us.”

He took another drag and made sure that their bodies were touching each other. “You still cold?”

She looked away from the garden then and fixed him with a stare. He sighed and let his stiffened muscles relax. Slowly he laid his head back and started to think again. Now, when no one was crying or screaming he was able to concentrate again in order to analyze the situation.

“Why should it change something between us?”

She groaned, frustration seeping through her voice. “Stop with the riddles, already. You know why. This isn’t something small and insignificant that can be easily overlooked.”

“You’re right, it’s something huge,” he remarked. “But it doesn’t change how I feel about you.”

She scoffed half-heartedly. “Didn’t take you for someone so emotional.”

He chuckled. “That’s entirely your fault. I didn’t even _know_ I had this range of feelings till you came along." Maybe tomorrow, he wouldn’t be this open about himself, but today’s events had sucked the energy out of him. He didn’t have the power to conceal his inner musings.

“But even if I look at this from a purely logical perspective, the result would remain the same.” He exhaled the smoke in his lungs, as they both kept on staring at a deer that had come out of the woods, hesitatingly sniffing at some bushes.

“You had the Kyuubi sealed in you when I met you for the first time and it remained in you since then. And now – Nothing has changed. _You_ haven’t changed, so why would I start feeling different about you all of sudden?”

She ran a hand through her mussed up hair before letting her head rest in her palms. “But you do know that I am dangerous, right? I am not going to lie to you Shikamaru, and pretend that I have everything under control. I had my moments of weakness when I have come close to breaking the seal.”

“But now you’re not alone anymore.”

And suddenly, he was sure that she had been lonely. It dawned on him that she hadn’t told him much about her past other than little stories about her sensei. He could imagine her, alone in a stiflingly tiny village with nothing to offer other than a fuinjutsu scroll. There was some hopelessness in it. Living in a prison with the only possibility to escape being incarcerated into another one.

“Naruto, are you happy?”

She lifted her head from her palms, watching him carefully. There was something delicately vulnerable about her features when she answered with honesty.

“I am not so sure, anymore.” He remained silent, giving her the opportunity to elaborate. “I came here, my expectations low, but still optimistic, if that makes sense. I thought, it’ll be horrible, but somehow I was still hoping it might not be. It turned out to be nothing like I expected all of this to be. I’m just –“ she broke herself off, shook her head. She didn’t want to finish the sentence.

But Shikamaru’s gaze didn’t sway. He wanted to hear the end of it.

“I’m having such a good time. Nothing’s ever been as good before. And I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Good things normally don’t just come to me.”

He could feel the heat of the cigarette between his fingers. Only a couple more drags and he would reach the stump. He let it glow.

“You’re waiting for something bad to happen. I’m not going to reassure you by saying that it won’t. You’re a shinobi now, shit is bound to happen. But I can promise you one thing; if everything else fails, you can still count on me. I have your back, so you can quit looking over your shoulder.”

She smiled, softly, wistfully and breathtakingly beautiful.

“See? That’s what I mean. You’re too good for me.”

He snorted, on the verge of laughing out and finally took another drag.

“What is wrong with us that we’re constantly thinking that we’re not good enough for each other?”

She lifted her pale eyebrows in surprise. “What do you mean by that?”

“Don’t act so confused,” he answered, his tone cynical. “You’re friendly, strong, selfless, beautiful…” he made a gesture with his hand to show that the list went on. “You’re the hot girl everyone turns around to catch a second glance of. People are probably feeling sorry for you for being stuck with me.”

The blonde hit him lightly on his thigh. “Stop saying stuff like that!” she hissed.

He chuckled. “No, seriously, what do you even like about me?”

She rolled her eyes. “Why would you say something like that? You’re not self-conscious.”

“No, I’m not. But I’m realistic. And the reality is is that I’m lazy, moody and free of any ambition. I’m analyzing the simplest things to death. When I want something I turn to the sneakiest method of gaining it. And lately-“ he let the burned down stump fall to the ground and began to bury it with his foot under piles of earth. His mother would have his head if she found them. “Lately, I’m starting to stink of smoke. So what is it?”

She shrugged. “You’re intelligent.”

He snorted. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

Naruto rolled her blue eyes and after a moment of contemplation she continued speaking. “You’re not judgmental. And gentle, never cruel. When I arrived here, you never once treated me mean or ever indifferently, although you had every right to do so. What you’re doing is selflessness. Though I was forced upon you, you accepted it all without complaint.”

Shikamaru laughed. “It really isn’t that hard to accept you.”

“Let’s pretend that’s true,” Naruto commented dismissively. ”Even if it isn’t about me,” she argued. “You became a shinobi and you are going to be the clan head, although you can stand neither – all for the sake of your family and your village.”

Her features hardened. “To be honest, sometimes it bothers me. How you don’t even put up a fight and move on. But sometimes,” she shrugged her slight shoulders, “I’m amazed how mature you are.”

Whatever had just crossed her mind, caused her to grin slightly. “All the other boys your age- that’s all they are: boys. You are the only man among them.” She laughed. “And I didn’t even know I had a thing for that till you came along.”

Shikamaru chuckled as he tried avoiding her eyes. He was unused to any compliments that didn’t address his intelligence. “Didn’t know I left such an impression.”

He tried grabbing another cigarette to overplay his uneasiness, but before he could reach the pocket, his fiancé had slapped his hand away. “Despite what I just said, you _do_ stink a little lately. Lay off a little on these things.”

He groaned and lay down on the wooden floor, the sinking sun still visible from where they were sat. As he relaxed and gathered his thoughts, he couldn’t believe what had just happened in such a short space of time. It had been only this morning when Naruto and he had gotten up to talk with some architects; yet it seemed ages ago.

Suddenly he remembered what he had been contemplating just hours ago. What Naruto had revealed to him had come completely unexpected. But it didn’t make what he had found out any less true. However, the matter of the Yondaime being Naruto’s father seemed relatively unimportant when compared to recent revelations.

Still he wanted to talk about it. But when he looked over to Naruto, peacefully watching the garden, he thought that he had torn too many wounds open for one day. It’d be a matter for another one.

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the next chapter won't come as fast because I'm finally finished copying everything over from ff.net. Be also prepared for longer Author's Notes. Don't Forget to tell me what you thought of 20!


	21. 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s 21, later than anyone of us expected, but it’s here!   
> According to your comments, some of you seemed to think I’ve abandoned this but nope. I was just really lazy and I also started two new stories. None of them are long-time-projects like this one, but I was in the mood for something fresh.
> 
> I thank all of you guys for all of your lovely comments! I read every single one of them and they are very encouraging!
> 
> Shououtto my beloved beta ShadowedNara, who never leaves me standing in the rain, even after all those hiatuses. You’re the best!  
> Cue to 21!

Shikamaru woke up to the sound of rustling. Doors creaking, cupboards opening and closing and feet softly walking on the timber floor. When he finally managed to open his eyes, he was greeted with the sight of his fiancé’s naked back. Her long, blonde hair was wet; she must have just taken a shower. He reached over to the nightstand.

“No smoking in my room,” she called, her voice still scratchy from sleep. When they finally went to sleep yesterday evening, he had followed Naruto into her room and she hadn’t objected.

He ignored her comment, but resisted lighting a cigarette. Instead, he chuckled lowly. “That’s a sight I could get used to seeing in the mornings.”

She laughed, grabbed a shirt and threw it in his direction. When he lifted the piece of clothing up to free his view, Naruto had already pulled on a sports bra.

He didn’t feel bad about watching her. Shikamaru was mostly honest towards himself. There was no use in cheating yourself if you didn’t want to cause additional problems. That’s why he could freely admit that Naruto _was_ a sight to behold; she was beautiful. Her healthy tan spread over her whole body, or at least over the parts he could see. Even though she was short, her legs were relatively long when compared to the rest of her body. Her little waist and the nice cleavage perfected the look.

It was strange. Normally, he didn’t really pay attention to these kinds of things. He was usually able to detach himself from basic desires because when it came down to it, he was only watching body parts. It wasn’t because Naruto looked exceptionally good that he liked watching her, it was because she was Naruto.

“You’re staring,” she remarked as she put some shorts on.

“It’s hard not to.” Naruto smiled and walked towards him. She only stopped when she arrived at the bed side. Before he could react, she was already on the bed on all fours, caging his body with her limbs. Her hands that she had used to prop herself up, moved from each side of the pillow to his loose hair, running through it and mussing it up.

Finally, she leant down to capture his mouth in a kiss, her tongue slipping into him. The initial haze of confusion quickly dissipated in favor of desire, as he moved his arms around her and ran his hands down the dip of her back until they arrived at her ass, at last. He couldn’t say that he had a lot of experience groping asses, but instinctually he’d say that Naruto had a great ass.

She pulled back, a grin on her face. “You’ve got morning breath,” she chuckled.

He pulled her back down for another kiss because he really didn’t care.

Laughing, she climbed off the bed and stood off to his side. “It’s because of those cigarettes. I did notice that you’re smoking more than you used to.”

He hummed. He had noticed, too. It had become a habit. He stretched his muscles and forced himself to sit up. “We’re all going to die anyway. Might as well enjoy the small pleasures of life.”

She scoffed as he stood up and pulled her back against his chest. He was so tired that he propped his head up against her left shoulder.

“If you don’t let me go, I’ll have to go to my fight without a shirt on.”

He tightened his hold. “Half-naked? Only for me.”

She laughed but eased her tense muscles, leaning into him.

.

Shikamaru was relaxed as he watched his fiancé from his place at the seating podium.

“You don’t seem all that excited,” Ino remarked from behind him. She wasn’t the only one out of his friends who watched the Chunin exams regularly. Although not Shikamaru’s ideal choice of how to spend his free time, they could be pretty entertaining.

He shrugged. “Why should I? I know she’ll win. And I don’t even know the rest of the contestants.” He hadn’t heard of anyone with homicidal tendencies taking part though, and Naruto was strong and had an unconventional way of forming strategies. She would manage perfectly fine.

He took a look around the stadium. “It’s unusually full,” he remarked. It reminded him a little of his own Chunin exams. At that time they had Sasuke and Gaara as the most prominent participants.

His father nodded. “Most of them are from Konoha. If I had to take a guess, I’d say some of them are here for Naruto.”

Shikamaru lifted a brow. His father turned towards him. “She became a Konoha shinobi in an unconventional way. She’s also marrying into one of the bigger clans. There is not much going on in town and people are eager for gossip.”

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Something needed to happen to pull Naruto and him from the town’s focus. He turned back towards the arena. His fiancé was standing confidently in her usual attire: Black top, orange jacket, dark shorts and boots. Her hair was pulled up in a high ponytail.

In front of her stood the girl she’d be fighting against; Setsuko Fujimoto, a girl from Ame.

Even form this far distance he could discern how tense Naruto’s muscles were, ready to exert herself. Sure enough, the jonin finally lifted his arm in a sign for the fight to begin. The word ‘start’ had barely left his mouth, when Naruto had already rushed forward, the seemingly harmless little fist punching into the other girl’s gut, the force of the simple attack sending her body on a collision course with the hard wall of the arena.

Shikamaru could hear the audience muttering like they usually did when something major happened. “Damn, she’s fast,” Kiba remarked from behind him.

Shikamaru fidgeted, remembering what he had found out only a little while ago. The Yondaime’s death wasn’t so long ago; and as soon as the topic of speed came up, the association with Minato Namikaze wasn’t far away. “Probably the strategy she and Kakashi have planned out.”

“Have you asked her?” Choji asked.

Shikamaru shook his head, his eyes fixed on his fiancé who hadn’t let up, storming towards her opponent, firing away punches and kicks in rapid succession. She had summoned some kage-bunshins that were complementing her motions.

“Wasn’t necessary. She isn’t allowed to make use of her fuinjutsu abilities and she sucks at genjutsu. She could use ninjutsu, but the majority of the techniques she knows are wind-based. Her opponent is from Ame, making the probability of her mastering water-techniques relatively high. Wind isn’t weak against water, but it isn’t extremely effective either. The best way to handle this fight would be to rely heavily on taijutsu.”

The plan reeked of something that Kakashi would come up with. Shikamaru had worked often enough with him to know that the man had a way of approaching problems in a smart and efficient way. “I bet it wasn’t all that hard to improve upon her abilities either.” Before he could hold himself back, the words tumbled out of him. “Speed should come naturally to her, after all.”

He could feel his father stiffen beside him, the obvious dig not lost on him. The sharp eyes quickly lost its initial confusion in favor of fixing his son with a hard glance. The man subtly placed his hand on Shikamaru’s left shoulder. It was an order and a warning.

He had always been given a fair amount of leeway, despite the fact that he had been the clan heir. But on the rare occasions his father had used his authority over him, he had obeyed. This time was no different. Besides, he knew that exposing the relation between Naruto and the Yondaime in the middle of a huge crowd wasn’t a good idea either.

He rummaged in the pocket of his vest, pulling a cigarette out and lightening it up. It was his first smoke of the day.

In the end, the fight didn’t last all that long. After battering the other girl up, Naruto’s doppelgangers had held her tightly in place, while his fiancé had placed a rasengan into her opponent’s core. The girl didn’t stand back up again.

When Naruto arrived at the tribune and sat down on the free seat next to him, she was slightly exhausted. The next battle had already started as Shikamaru slung an arm around her shoulders, not minding the sweat on her skin or the other people’s looks when he placed a kiss on her lips.

.

They had barely returned back home when he was called to his father’s office. Shikamaru knew exactly what he had been ordered here for and he regretted not keeping quiet earlier. He should’ve known better than that.

But his reaction had been a result of the anger that had been building in him for some time now. Of course, he knew that secrecy of it went hand in hand with being a shinobi. However, he was gradually starting to realize just how much he had been fucked over.

The whole arranged marriage business had been sketchy to begin with. What he had discovered about it ever since made him wonder what else he might find out in the future.

Still, he wasn’t looking forward to the upcoming conversation. He was pretty sure his father wasn’t either.

The man sighed, sipping from a cup of tea that his mother had brought him. “So you know.” He got straight to the point.

“Yes,” he answered simply.

“How?”

“Does it matter?”

The man grinned. “I don’t know whether to be exasperated or proud of you.”

Shikamaru couldn’t share his pride. Looking back, all the signs had been there. It shouldn’t have taken him as long as it did to find out that the Yondaime and Naruto were related.

“Regardless,” his father carried on, “I don’t have to remind you not to spread those facts.”

Shikamaru nodded. Being related to the Hokage only brought benefits on a genetic basis. Even in peaceful times, assassinations were far from unheard of. He resisted the urge to crease his forehead. It was apparent that his father only knew that Shikamaru knew of Naruto’s relation to the Yondaime. He had no idea that his son was also aware of the fact that his fiancé’s body caged a bijuu.

Shikamaru contemplated whether he should admit that he had found out more than his father thought he did. However big the revelation of the Yondaime being Naruto’s father was, it didn’t top the fact that that her body inhabited the Kyuubi.

He decided to risk it. If he let the depth of his knowledge be known, there wouldn’t be much of a point to keep up the secrecy around him. In the long run, it may be the more benefitting path to take, because the higher ups wouldn’t see any harm in sharing additional information with them.

“What about the Kyuubi? I take it that's something that shouldn’t be spread either?”

Shikamaru could count the number of times his father Shikaku Nara had been genuinely surprised. The man was extremely clever. Even Shikamaru couldn’t keep up with his intelligence. Yet.

However, at this moment he watched his father’s facial muscles freeze, his dark eyes widen, staring into a void. He took that picture in, enjoying every little moment. It felt good to be one step ahead again. For all these years, the man had had the power of superior knowledge, but finally, he had managed to get the upper hand. It was a delicious feeling.

Eventually though, Shikaku gathered himself. “I have to admit, I had always thought your reaction would've been more extreme when you found out. I was preparing speeches to calm you down.” His father smiled. Shikamaru felt a little reassured. Although the man was a constant reminder of what he had to live up to, he was still his father. Shikamaru was glad that he made him proud.

He shrugged. “Not much we can do about it, no?”

The Nara head chuckled. “How did you find out?

“She told me,” he answered. Sometimes the simplest ways lead to the solution.

The look on his father’s became thoughtful. “The relationship that you’ve developed with her is quite strange. Before she had arrived in Konoha, I was catching up on what she was doing and what I was hearing concerned me. I thought you and her were as incompatible as two people could possibly be. That you've come as far as you have that she trusts you with something like this…” He let the sentence hang in the air.

Shikamaru didn’t get embarrassed. He was beyond the point of blushing about what he had with Naruto or how much people knew about it. He knew what he felt towards her and finally had firm footing. People could think whatever they wanted to think as far as he was concerned.

His father drank the last of his tea before fixing him with a firm look, all thoughtfulness yielding in favour of strictness. “Shikamaru, you know that this is a matter of top secrecy. You are not allowed to tell _anyone_ about it. Not to your friends, not to your superiors-“

“Don’t most of them know anyway?” he interrupted. He had always had the suspicion that Asuma-sensei, Kakashi and the rest of that generation had known something about Naruto that he hadn’t.

“It doesn’t matter,” Shikaku argued in a strict tone. “Whether you suspect somebody to know, or even if you are absolutely sure that they know, you won’t talk about it. This is very important, especially for the safety of Naruto. Jinchuurikis are sought after and even if we have an agreement not to lay a hand on each other’s jinchuurikis, I know better than to rely on the other villages’ words."

Shikamaru frowned, understanding his father’s implication. “They- _Jinchuurikis_ ,” he tasted the foreign sounding word on his tongue, “are being used for their power?”

The man nodded.

“What does that agreement you’ve mentioned entail?” He thought he’d have to push much more to get some information, but his father seemed to be in a rarely benevolent mood.

“You know that the Kyuubi isn’t the only bijuu. There are eight other tailed beasts. As of now, each one is sealed into a human body. The people whose bodies cage the beasts are called jinchuurikis. Those beasts have an enormous amount of chakra which can be used by its vessel.”

Shikamaru felt disgust well within him. “They’re being used as weapons.” The way his father talked about them was so distanced that Shikamaru would have adopted the same stance if he wasn’t aware that the girl he was in love with, was one of those people.

“In the most simple sense, yes,” his father confirmed.

The younger Nara’s eyes widened in realization as he contemplated the issue. It was a sudden notion that struck him, and as soon as he toyed with the idea, he knew it was true. “Gaara…”

His father nodded. “He is the vessel of Shukaku.”

The power, the psychoses, the relationship with Naruto… Adding one more piece to the puzzle, suddenly the whole picture seemed to make sense.

“The power of the bijuus are evenly spread across all the villages to prevent imbalance – but it isn’t like anyone played by the rules before.” Shikaku’s frown eased a little. “I take it you understand. No talking about this to anyone. Same goes for what you’ve found out about the Yondaime. Not even to Naruto.”

“What?” It hit him like a whiplash. “She doesn’t know?”

“And it would do good to stay that way. Every person that knows about it, is one person too much.”

“She is not some random girl. She is his daughter.”

“Shikamaru-“

“No,” he interrupted. For the first time in his life, he decided to disobey his father. “You cannot expect me to keep that from her. And I won’t.”

His father’s frown returned. “We are shinobi. Secrecy is in our job description. Honesty is something we cannot expect.”

He had the childish urge to shrug and argue with a simple ‘I don’t care’.

Instead he collected himself, gathering arguments. He couldn’t let this escalate into a fight. He rarely had arguments with anyone – it was too tiring; he'd never had one with his father. For all the man’s own laziness, he could be stubborn and Shikamaru didn’t want it to go as far for him to experience what the Nara head was capable of.

“She’ll keep quiet about it.”

“I know that Naruto is a goodhearted girl with the best of intentions, but I can’t be sure of that. I don’t know her well enough to be able to say that.”

“But you trust my decisions. And I trust Naruto.”

Shikaku sighed, tiredness seeping into his expression. Yet he remained wary. “I don’t think that I can trust you when it comes to her, Shikamaru.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, managing to keep the indignation out of his voice.

“You’re not following logical patterns when the matter concerns Naruto.”

Shikamaru evaded his father’s eyes. Was it true? Was his affection for her clouding his common sense? He was starting to doubt his own arguments. Maybe his father was right.

But this wasn’t just a small matter. He didn’t even want to imagine Naruto’s reaction when she eventually found out that he had known the identity of her father, but had never bothered to tell her. She wasn’t one to hold grudges, but the amount of credibility he would lose…

“Please,” he argued, because it was the only thing left to bring up. “I don’t know whether what I have with her can work if I keep something this important from her.”

His father’s eyes softened as he sighed and ran a hand through his hair in a manner that reminded Shikamaru of himself. He could see the guilt in the older man’s expression in a rare unguarded moment. It was during moments like these when he was reminded that his father didn’t agree on arranging the marriage lightheartedly. After a few moments of contemplation he nodded in surrender.

“Alright. But make sure that she keeps it quiet.” And with that concession, the man forwent giving into the urge to follow logical patterns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what did you think? How did you like it?   
> I don’t know if any of you guys expected a huge fight during the chunin exams but I couldn’t bring myself to write it. It was part of why the update took so long. I was struggling with orchestrating this huge battle, but I couldn’t come up with something. In the end I decided, if I ever wanted this chapter to be updated I would have to leave a grand scene out, even when it felt wrong to do so.  
> I hate fighting scenes. When reading, I skip them, when writing, I dread them. So a question to you: How do you feel about fighting scenes? I’ll definitely include some, but depending on your answer, the number might vary.   
> And how did you like the rest of the chapter? Not much romance in this one (although the ending of the first scene made me all sappy) but that’s the natural flow of things.

**Author's Note:**

> You can also always contact me through my [tumblr](http://desiringparadise.tumblr.com/).


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